Clogher pipped at the post by Instonians

CLOGHER Valley missed out on a place in the Ulster Senior Cup final when they fell to a 36-22 reverse to Instonians at a rain-lashed Shaw’s Bridge on Saturday.

With both teams boasting a 100 per cent record in Group B, it was a winner takes all scenario regarding the showpiece and despite enjoying a bright start it was Clogher who missed out in the end.

“To end up where it is is a fair enough reflection [of the match],” observed Clogher head coach, Stephen Bothwell, who felt his side’s lack of proactivity cost them on the day.

“We had a bit of a wind advantage in the first half but we didn’t make the most of it,” Bothwell observed. “We were waiting for them to play rather than having a crack at them.

“We gave them the ball too easy, which meant we had to tackle far too much, which was sore on us.

”We needed a wee bit more composure today, they flustered us too much which was frustrating for me. We panicked too easily, but it was good that I saw that and it’s something we can work on.”

The men from the Cran enjoyed the best of the early stages with Matthew Bothwell dotting down after Josh Kyle went through the middle, while David Maxwell converted and kicked a penalty to give them a 10-0 lead.

Instonians responded to make it 10-7 with a converted try before Callum Smyton scampered through after Philip Wilson made a break on the wing to leave it 15-7 to the visitors.

Unfortunately for Bothwell’s men, the home side took control after that and raced into a 36-15 lead before Taine Haire took advantage of a rare Instonians mistake from kick-off in the final minutes to leave 14 points between the sides in the end.

While a little disappointed with the end result, Bothwell is delighted with his side’s Ulster Senior Cup campaign, during which they have beaten Ballymena at home and City of Armagh away – sides who are above them in the AIL system.

And those results have given him and his squad a timely boost, but also a reality check ahead of the new AIL season, which gets underway on September 27th.

“You have to look at the bigger picture and we had three games there that I was really worried about at the start so to come out of it [with two wins] when all I really wanted was good performances and everyone more or less ready for selection in two weeks and I think we’ve done that,” he said.

”We have loads of things to work on, but they were good hit outs and today means we won’t get carried away. When you get a win, it can easily paper over the cracks, but I’m delighted with where we are and I’m looking forward to getting these boys back training as soon as possible to try to get things right again.”

Meanwhie, Clogher lost three second row players to minor injuries during Saturday’s game, which is a concern ahead of the AIL season, but they have been buoyed by the signing of Kiwi Ryan Stewart, who will join up with his new colleagues this week.