Clogher climb to second

CLOGHER Valley have moved level on points with near neighbours Dungannon and into second place in the Energia All-Ireland League 2B table after earning a bonus point victory over another of their promotion rivals, Skerries.

The visitors led for a significant period of time at The Cran, but three late tries in quick succession ensured Clogher sealed what could be a vital five points haul come the end of a season that, so far, is going very well.

“To get over the line with a full haul is huge,” Valley head coach Stephen Bothwell beamed. “We kept the pressure on hard, our scrum was very telling, and to beat Skerries, to score 39 points on them, I’m delighted. It’s super at this stage of the season to be where we are because I never thought we’d be where we are.”

Tries from Aaron Crawford and James Morrison and a Skerries penalty from Ronan Mulcahy put Clogher into a 12-3 lead on the half hour mark, but the visitors then found their groove, scoring a converted effort from a maul, followed by Mulcahy scoring and converting his own try to make it 17-12 to the visitors at the break.

“We were on top playing into the wind at the start of the first half but then they got a couple of lucky bounces and from us being in control of the game, they ended up turning around up,” Bothwell observed.

“Both teams were trying to play in difficult conditions, but I always thought we were more in control of the ball and we were putting them under a lot of pressure at scrum time too.”

After the restart, with the wind at Clogher’s backs, Aaron Dunwoody levelled the scores but a Paddy Finn touchdown and a Mulcahy conversion left it at 24-17 to Skerries with time ticking down.

At that stage, Clogher burst into life and put their visitors to the sword with David Stinson, Michael Treanor and captain Paul Armstrong all crossing the whitewash to ensure the hosts sealed their bonus point victory in some style, although Bothwell wasn’t overly impressed by the decision making in his back division throughout the clash.

“The forwards were really good but our backs were making it as hard as possible for them by doing stupid kicks and giving up possession,” Bothwell fumed.

“They were kicking it too much and giving it away but our pack was superb, they came out top in the end, which was good.”

Bothwell’s pack will need to be on top of their game again this coming weekend when they travel to Rainey in Magherafelt where they will be targeting another win to keep their place in what is becoming a very congested promotion picture.

“They are big men, who play a limited brand of rugby and they try to bully you out of everything,” Bothwell observed ahead of this coming Saturday’s fixture, which he feels could be key to their ambitions for the rest of the season.

He continued: “It’s important to win because every time you win you’re giving yourself an opportunity to get a wee bit of daylight [over your promotion rivals], to keep the pressure on the likes of Dungannon.

“We have to go down there and get points, but it’s those couple of league games either side of Christmas are so important, I think. In tight leagues, they can make or break your season.

“But it’s really important that we focus on ourselves right through Christmas, what we can do well, and hopefully we can come out on the right side of the results.”