Omagh dominated the first 40 minutes, mainly due to the excellent territorial game executed by half backs Stewart McCain and Lee Murphy, but they wasted a number of scoring opportunities and Instonians took full advantage.
Indeed, it was the Belfast side who scored the only points of the first half, which came via a Fraser Wright penalty. The Instonians outhalf converted a second half penalty try before landing another three pointer to seal the win.
Tactical kicking by McCain and Murphy ensured the majority of the opening quarter was played in Instonians territory and it was from one such pinpoint kick that provided Omagh with their first glimpse of a try. A lineout steal five metres from the Instonians tryline produced a well-worked maul which collapsed just short of the whitewash. Loose forward Richard Smith then cut a superb angle in midfield to break through but was hauled down ten metres out and the ball was poached.
The Tyrone team’s best chance came after 25 minutes when Murphy’s superb crossfield kick almost found Ryan Mitchell but the left wing spilled the ball under pressure from the covering defenders.
Murphy then saw two ambitious long range penalty attempts fall short as his side continued to dominate proceedings.
A scrum penalty on half way in favour of the Instonians front row provided the Shaw’s Bridge outfit with a platform for their first meaningful attack of the game, just before the interval. A kick to touch was followed by a series of forward drives, including a particularly powerful burst from number 8 Rory McCurry, and that forced Omagh to infringe at a breakdown. Wright kicked the simple penalty to put his side 3-0 up - excellent reward for their first visit into the opposition 22.
Half time: Instonians 3 Omagh 0
Instonians were visibly buoyed by that first half clinicalness and were much improved after the break. A 55th minute attack was held up over the line but a penalty try was awarded from the resultant scrum surge and Wright added the extras to stretch the lead to ten points.
By now the Belfast side were on top and Wright kicked another penalty to bring the score to 13-0 with just 15 minutes remaining on the clock.
Omagh sparked into life late in the game with their back three of Mitchell, Neil Brown and Alistair Beckett producing some fine moments with ball in hand. But Instonians never looked like throwing it away and their defence, ably marshalled by captain Robert Whitten, held firm.
Full time: Instonians 13 Omagh 0
TEAMS:
Instonians: (15-9) Robbie Kirk; Marcus Hart, Joe Fryers, David Scott, Zach Finlay; Fraser Wright, Matthew Keane; (1-8) Fergal Lynch, Glen Baxter, Josh Cregan, Conor Brockschmidt, Sebastiano Folla, Patrick Bell, Robert Whitten, Rory McCurry; (16-20) Alan Whitten, Conor Gallagher, Patrick Marks, Robbie Martin, Andrew Keane.
Omagh: (15-9) Alistair Beckett; Neil Brown, Michael Gibson, Yonga Taleni, Ryan Mitchell; Lee Murphy, Stewart McCain; (1-8): Steven Lyons, Mervyn Edgar, Mark Smith, Johnny Giboney, Mark Miller, James Catterson, Richard Harper, Andrew Ferguson; (16-20) David Thompson, Jamie Sproule, Richard Smith, Alan Heaney, Scott Elliott.