Valley’s lambs become lions in final

HAVING heavily rotated his squad for Saturday’s Ulster Senior Shield Final against Ballymena at the Cran, Clogher Valley head coach Stephen Bothwell admitted he didn’t expect his young side to retain the title.

With an Energia All-Ireland League promotion play-off at their neared 2B rivals Dungannon ahead of them this coming weekend, Bothwell took the opportunity to reset a number of would-be starters that day against Ballymena, giving several youngster the chance to experience life against an AIL 2A outfit.

And he was delighted to see his young lambs turn into lions on the day as they not only proved him wrong, but did it in style after a rip-roaring encounter that ended in a 40-36 Clogher triumph as they retained the crown they won 12 months earlier against the same opposition at Eaton Park.

“I never saw that coming and I even let it slip when I was talking to [the players] afterwards that I didn’t expect us to win!,” laughed Bothwell who was celebrating his 50th birthday on Saturday.

“The boys did well. Ballymena scored first and I thought ‘oh no, here we go! But we got the next score and we hung in hard in ‘D’ every time and a lot of the time, when they went into the 22, ultimately, they scored, but so did we.

“I thought they would be going harder at us with their backs, but we had young boys and quick boys and it was great to see young fellas playing with a bit of confidence and taking boys on and that was pleasing to see.

“It was great to see them having a good crack because we had a young backline. Maxi [outhalf David Maxwell] was the oldest at 25, then the rest, apart from Robbie Mills, who is 24, were 20 or younger, with many of them still in their teens.

“We’re delighted with the win and the way the boys fronted up.”

Having sealed the win and retained the Ulster Senior Shield thanks to trys from Richard Primrose, James Morrison, David Maxwell, who kicked five conversions, Karl Bothwell, Michael Bothwell and Josh Mee, Clogher have received a timely confidence boost ahead of this coming Saturday’s clash at Stevenson Park where either they or Dungannon will take a step closer to a place in 2A with Ballymena next season.

In their last 2B fixture of the campaign, Clogher produced an off-colour performance in defeat to Malone and Bothwell believes Saturday’s triumph has changed the mood significantly ahead of their clash with Dungannon.

“It changes the whole mood of the camp,” he acknowledged. “It’s a good, sunny evening and the boys are ecstatic!”

Saturday’s Energia All-Ireland League 2A promotion play-off between Dungannon and Clogher Valley at Stevenson Park kicks off at 2.30pm.