Valley romp into all-Ulster decider

Clogher Valley……47

Newcastle West…9

CLOGHER Valley booked their place in the All-Ireland Junior Cup final for the first time since 2014 following an emphatic 47-9 home victory over Newcastle West on Saturday.

Stephen Bothwell’s men ran riot in the second half, running in 33 points to see off their Limerick opponents to set up an all Ulster decider with Ballyclare, who saw off Connemara 14-12 at the Cloughan.

A hat-trick of tries from skipper Paul Armstrong, who also knocked over six conversions, and touchdowns from influential scrumhalf Matthew Bothwell, Ewan Haire, David Sharkey and Regan Wilkinson, ensured Clogher finished 2021 on a real high, much to head coach, Stephen Bothwell’s delight.

“For 2021 to end up with where we are, one defeat the whole season to Instonians, it’s brilliant,” he beamed.

“I’m really happy with the way the boys play and with how they played. There were a lot of spectators said it was probably the best performance ever seen on the Clogher Valley pitch.

“It was nice to get that last game and to go into the Christmas break, so I’m delighted with how the boys have performed.

“Today [Saturday] couldn’t have gone any better, the place was buzzing and I’m delighted.”

After soaking up some early pressure from their Munster visitors, Clogher opened the scoring on their first visit to the Newcastle 22 after 23 minutes. Mathew Bothwell chipped over the top and Armstrong was the quickest to react and sprinted through to score under the posts. Armstrong added the extra points.

Five minutes later Newcastle clawed three points back with a well struck penalty but their joy was short lived after a second try for the home side, which came from the two same protagonists, Armstrong and Bothwell. This time it was Armstrong who played the role of architect with a well-timed offload and Bothwell who sprinted through to score under the posts. Armstrong added the conversion.

Despite this two try lead, Newcastle threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at the Valley, but the home side’s defence was strong and absorbed the pressure, much to Stephen Bothwell’s relief at the break.

“We were 14-3 up and they were pressurising our line at the end of the first half and I said ‘if this goes in it’s a lot different game at 14-10 so it’s very important we hold them out’. And we did, our defence was superb, we gave away very few penalties,” he observed.

Newcastle were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and were rewarded with a penalty to bring them back to 14-6.

Any hope of a comeback from the visitors was soon quashed as, with the clock approaching the end of the third quarter, Armstrong intercepted a pass and sprinted 60 meters to score, and duly convert Clogher’s third try of the afternoon.

While Newcastle added a third penalty, their final dreams were over and the Valley men put them to the sword in the final 15 minutes with Wilkinson cutting in from the right wing to score, five minutes before Sharkey took the ball at speed and burst through to add another 5 points, which Armstrong converted.

The final 10 minutes proved to be the stuff of dreams for the Valley faithful and a seemingly unending nightmare for Newcastle as Clogher produced a vintage display of free flowing rugby.

Ewan Haire side stepped his way through the defence and sprinted 40 meters to score, Armstrong adding the conversion and the skipper added the coupe de gras with a well worked try from the back line to make it 47-9.

While everyone involved with Clogher Valley RFC is thrilled to be back in the All-Ireland Junior Cup final and keen to avenge the disappointment of a 10-9 defeat to Enniscorthy seven years ago, they know it won’t be easy against a Ballyclare side they have already beaten twice, narrowly, in the league this season.

The final is scheduled for January 29th at a venue TBC.

Clogher Valley: Michael Treanor, Kyle Cobane, Neil Henderson, Eugene McKenna, David Sharkey, David Stinson, Aaron Dunwoody, Callum Smyton, Matthew Bothwell, David Maxwell, Stuart Brown, Reece Smyton, Paul Armstrong (cpt), Regan Wilkinson, Ewan Haire. Replacements: Aaron Crawford, Richard Primrose, Jamie Allen, Joel Busby, Ryan Wilson, Daryl Liggett, Neil Trotter, Adam Boles.