By 
A THRILLING finish at The Cran on Saturday saw Clogher Valley snatch victory from the jaws of defeat after they had already thrown away a fairly comfortable lead against Sligo.
Jake Woods charged down the conversion of Sligo’s third try of the day to leave the visitors two points ahead with time ticking down and David Maxwell then launched a stunning last minute penalty between the posts to earn Stephen Bothwell’s men a vital bonus point triumph by just a solitary point in the end.
That five point haul and a somewhat surprising defeat at Rainey for their nearest rivals for second place in Energia All-Ireland League 2B, UL Bohemians, leaves the Valley men with a four point cushion in the table at present.
The two results leaves Clogher’s destiny in their own hands but they do face a tougher run-in than Boh’s with matches against Galwegians, who were crowned champions on Saturday, Rainey and Malone to come.
But they know, if they get the results they need, they will host Boh’s in the promotion play-off semi-final, rather than facing a trip to Limerick, which could be an important factor in how their season concludes.
“We couldn’t have wished, we never would have dreamt for that result from them [Boh’s losing at Rainey],” Bothwell admitted. “I didn’t see it coming but it’s six of one really because we have to go and beat Rainey and Malone still!
“We’re still in the hunt but it just shows you if you get Boh’s pulled away from home I don’t think they are the same side so it shows the importance of second place. But we still have it all to do, we have a lot harder teams to play in our last three than Boh’s.
“They basically have the bottom sides while we have those chasing the top four and Galwegians [the champions], but I’m delighted they won the league [on Saturday]!
“We’re still in the fight and that’s all we can do.”
Saturday was far from straightforward for Clogher. David Stinson’s fifth minute try, converted by Maxwell put the home side in front but Sligo bounced back to level matters when Matthew Earley dotted down and Euan Brown kicked the extras.
Playing into the wind, Clogher then took the lead again when Taine Haire scored a try, converted by Maxwell and Aaron Dunwoody grabbed their third score of the game to leave them 19-7 to the good ahead of the turnaround when they would have the breeze at their backs.
But even after they extended their lead further when front row replacement Kyle Cobane scored an unconverted try, the game was far from over as Sligo battled their way back into contention with two scores in quick succession from Jakub Wojtkowicz and Mark McGlynn, the first of which was converted by Brown, while the second attempt at the extras, vitally, was blocked by Woods, before Maxwell salvaged victory with his late penalty.
“It was wild!,” Bothwell exclaimed. “We were 19-7 up after the first half, turned around with the wind thinking we’ll put it to bed but we fell a sleep half way through the second half, stopped playing and they got their tails up.
“They were hunting us and I feared the worst because they seemed to have more energy than us but we were really lucky that our winger [Woods] stayed alive and chased down their conversion to make it just two points.
“We were all talking about what to do next [ahead of Sligo’s final conversion attempt] but he stayed in the moment and went after the kick. It was straight in front of the posts, we couldn’t believe it.
“And fair play to Maxi [Maxwell] at the end, he converted a really good penalty outside the 10 to win it.”
