No All-Ireland hangover for league title-chasing Clogher Valley

CLOGHER Valley showed no serious ill-effects from last week’s All-Ireland Junior Cup celebrations when they brushed aside Grosvenor at The Cran to continue their Ulster Championship title charge.

Stephen Bothwell’s men engineered a healthy 21-5 advantage at the break, thanks to a Matthew Bothwell try and two from skipper, Paul Armstrong, who was battling through a back problem. As such, Armstrong relinquished the kicking duties, which fell to David Maxwell, who shone, converting all three touchdowns in the first half and a further four in the second, including one of his own, after another man of the match contender, Aaron Crawford, Callum Smyton and David Stinson all dotted down.

The bonus point triumph keeps Clogher hot on the heels of Instonians, who lead by six points having played a game more, but with the sides set to clash on March 26th in Belfast, there remains a great deal to play for over the coming weeks and months.

On a heavy pitch, in gusty conditions, Clogher wasted no time to put Grosvenor to bed. There was only nine minutes on the clock when David Stinson broke down the right wing popped the ball to Matthew Bothwell who cut back inside and ran under the posts to open the scoring. David Maxwell slotted the extra points to put the Valley ahead by seven points. It took another 15 minutes before the Valley could add to the score. Callum Smyton broke from the halfway line popped to Paul Armstrong who ran in to add the second try. Maxwell added the additional points.

Armstrong scored his second and Valley’s third five minutes later when he spotted a gap in the Grosvenor defence and sprinted in to score. Maxwell added the extra two points.

Grosvenor didn’t buckle under the pressure and as the half came to a close the visitors kept the pressure on the Valley defence and eventually, they found a gap out wide, where they squeezed over in the corner to leave Clogher leading 21-5 at the break.

The try for Grosvenor at the end of the first half gave them confidence and resolve. And for 15 minutes they dominated play, but the Valley defence was solid.

A Grosvenor attack pushed in the Valley 22m area, but was turned over. Kyle Cobane broke out of defence, recycled the ball to Callum Smyton before Paul Armstrong took the ball on and then off-loaded to Aaron Crawford to drive over the line to score Valley’s 4th and bonus point try. The reliable David Maxwell added the conversion as the Valley led 28-5.

As the game came towards the end, the Valley put the icing on the cake. David Maxwell broke through the Grosvenor defence and raced in the score, which he then converted.

Minutes later, a five meter scrum for the Valley gave a great attacking position, however the pack decided they were going to take the ball on and drove Grosvenor over the line, giving Callum Smyton the easy task of tapping the ball down. Maxwell added the two points.

Immediately after the restart Ewan Haire kicked through, Regan Wilkinson added his boot and David Stinson was on hand to get the ball over the line. With the conversion added by David Maxwell it left the score 49-5 to the Valley.

The match that follows a cup final is always difficult for the Champions. The expectation is higher, and players are often carrying niggly injuries. This was one of those games.

Whilst the score indicates an easy victory for the Valley, Grosvenor controlled the game for long periods, but much of this play was not in the scoring part of the pitch. This Valley side are masters of soaking up pressure, then spotting a gap and launching an attack.

Many of the Valley scores came from deep in their own half and this is the sign of a good team. Coach Stephen Bothwell was overall pleased with the performance and the seven converted tries.

He admits whilst mistakes were made, this is still a developing side, and they keep on winning.

The player of the match was awarded to David Maxwell for his personal tally of 19 points.

Next Clogher travel to Lurgan in the Towns Cup.