Proud of the fact that it is the oldest tournament of its kind in Ireland, organisers have been hard at work this week, putting the final touches to the competition, for which there are three trophies on offer: the Campbell Cup is the main trophy, the Waterson Cup and the Campeasy Cup for the teams that finish first, second and third respectively in their groups.

“We are running the tournament in groups on a round robin basis with four sections. The top teams in each will go through to the semi-finals with the winners meeting in the finals. It is a format that has served us well and ensures that teams get a few games rather than the original knockout format that saw many sides face and early exit”, confirmed main organiser, Mervyn Beattie. “We have a strong entry confirmed this year. Each of the winners last year, Queens, Ballynahinch and Ballymena will be back to defend their trophies while other senior sides have confirmed their entries”, he added. “Dungannon, despite their failure to field as defending champions last year are sending a side as are fellow senior sides, Malone, who may be in the guise of an under 21 outfit, and newly promoted, Portadown”.

The sevens will again be the richer for the entry of several ex-pats and their sides. Alan Simpson will be bringing a Fire Service side, while Andy Loughlin’s Stockport make their annual pilgrimage to grace Thomas Mellon Playing Fields and are always in the hunt for honours, especially in the Waterson and Campeasy Cups respectively.

Wanderers lead the challenge from the south, and while Bective will not be travelling this year, the Accies are delighted to once again welcome Parkmore, a junior team in Dublin for whom Gareth Ryan, son of PJ Ryan, a long time Accies supporter and sponsor of the Campeasy cup, will be guesting.

Local sides always enjoy their day out in Omagh and while Clogher will go into the competition on the back of another successful season, Enniskillen and City of Derry have struggled this year, the latter dropping out of the Senior ranks, albeit hopefully only for a short time. Armagh have made strong overtures on the back of their double cup success and will likely field on Saturday as they look to complete a hat trick of cup wins this season. Colin Steensons men have made the knockout competitions their own this year and will be building for a strong promotion push next year.

Derry YM and Strabane head the North West entry while the organisers are delighted to welcome Omagh Academy back into the fold after a year out. The school struggled to field during the past few seasons, but with a maturing side, they may cause a few surprises on Saturday.
The Titans, a well known and established outfit on the sevens circuit will make their first vist to Omagh and will surely be among the favourites for the Campbell Cup, though queens will not be giving up their title without a fight and Ballynahinch and Wanderers are always there or thereabouts.
 
The host club Omagh lost out in an entertaining Campeasy Cup final last year to Ballymena and would love to finish a season of disappointment off I style by lifting some silverware.

Greg Jordan, Jamie Lagan, Mark Millar and Johnny Giboney will make up the backbone of the side and while there may be a few guest appearances along the way, they will be looking to close the season on a winning note.

No sevens tournament would be complete without the local sides. The Replacements made it through to the knockout stages last year, a fine effort from the youngsters, and while it should not be forgotten that their group was decimated down to three teams, they battled hard throughout, as did the Baa-Baas, an intriguing mix of rowdies and ball players.

The fan favourites, The Mexicans will again be on show. The veteran outfit, with a combined squad age that would make Bushmills whisky look youthful, will again get out the liniment, bandages, find the boots in the attic (probably hidden from wives and girlfriends) and take to the grassy pastures of Conneywarren where they have graced for many moons. Not renowned for their sevens expertise, the Mexicans add colour and pander to the social side of the game, before, during and after the tournament.

There will be entertainment in the pavilion immediately after the final of the Campbell Cup with the Pritchard brothers while Stubby Moore will provide the music in the members bar. With an eighties theme this year, get yourselves down to bop to the cheesiest tunes on offer and help bring the season down in style.

The Accie aer also hoping to host a couple of ladies sides with queens and Cooke expressing interest in competing in what acts as a fine curtain raiser before the finals.

The third fifteen will also be playing in a playoff encounter against Rainey Old Boys fourth XV at 2.30pm.

The ladies committee would like to remind all players to bring a loaf of sandwiches, not cut, to the kitchen before 1.00pm on Saturday!

Music : Pavilion 6.00pm
Music : Members Bar 8:30pm – 80’s theme