Clogher power past Skerries

CLOGHER Valley moved up into third place in the Energia All-Ireland League 2B table on Saturday after securing a resounding 40-15 bonus point victory at Skerries.

Tries from Callum Smyton, Aaron Dunwoody, Joel Busby, player of the match Luke Russell, Karl Bothwell and Kyle Cobane and five David Maxwell conversions, ensured that Stephen Bothwell’s men enjoyed a fairly comfortable day at the office.

Having had their game at home against Rainey the previous week called off due to the frozen weather, Bothwell was delighted that his players were able to get back to action and that they did so by hitting the ground running.

However, he stressed, he expects a similar performance this coming Saturday when Clogher entertain Sligo at The Cran.

“The boys went well,” he beamed. “We played some really, really good stuff and I was delighted with that performance.

“We had the bonus point secured by half-time, playing into the wind, which was huge.

“It was good that we didn’t let them back into the game and we were able to put it to bed and in context of the league to get into that top four fighting position again and get this block off to a good start was a big gain.

“We often play our best game in the first of the block and I don’t want to see the performances going down in this block.

“We’re at home against Sligo again next weekend [Saturday, January 25th] and hopefully we can put our best foot forward again.”

As well as being pleased with the outcome on the pitch on Saturday, Bothwell was delighted that the hard work off it is paying off.

“We worked hard on playing more rugby during the off period and made a couple of changes with Paul [Armstrong, captain] in at 10 and thankfully it came off. The boys played a lot of rugby and scored some fantastic tries, so I’m delighted.”