By 
CLOGHER Valley’s push for second place in Energia All-Ireland League 2B and a home promotion play-off fixture continued on Saturday with a bonus point home win over Skerries.
First half tries from Jamie Allen and Callum Smyton, one of which was converted by David Maxwell, gave Stephen Bothwell’s men a 12-0 half-time lead and in the second half they added to their tally thanks to a Kyle Cobane touchdown and a penalty try to secure a 26-0 victory that leaves them ahead of UL Bohemians on points difference.
With such narrow margins involved in the promotion picture, and Sligo only five points behind Clogher and Bohs, Bothwell knows every point is precious and he’s keen for two more wins over the next fortnight against the division’s bottom two, Navan and Enniscorthy.
“We’re still second on points difference, so we’ll keep picking away,” he said.
“It’s very important, this block of three [fixtures] that we get points out of every game because they are the bottom three sides. It’s going to get tougher after that.”
On Saturday, Clogher took their time to get the all-important bonus point fourth try, but Bothwell was delighted they did and he’s now hoping an injury sustained by second row, Jamie Allen, isn’t serious ahead of an important period of the season.
“We were only 12-0 up at half-time when we had the elements in our favour,” he observed.
“I thought we played good territory in the second half and did what we had to do. We had one [try] chalked off for a ‘croc roll’ which I thought was very harsh and that was for a bonus point at that stage, so I was ripping!
“Our scrum was very good, our outhalf Maxi [David Maxwell] kicked the ball really well and we made ground, getting us in the right areas. It was nice, all positive apart from Jamie Allen hearing a crack in his ankle, so he’s away to Omagh for an X-Ray.
“I hope it’s nothing serious because he’d be a huge loss for us. He’s having a very good season and he offers us a different dimension when it comes to carrying. I wouldn’t like to lose him, but we’ll deal with whatever comes.”
