Clogher Valley 1XV – 45
versus Bangor 1XV – 7
Clogher Valley 1XV – 7 tries, 5 conversions, 0 penalties, 0 drop goals.
Bangor 1XV – 1 tries, 1 conversions, 0 penalties, 0 drop goals.
Comprehensive Home Victory
The Clogher Valley supporters could have been forgiven for thinking that the team would be “rusty” after weeks of inactivity caused by an early exit from the Junior Cup and the arctic weather conditions. A converted try in the first minute allayed those fears and set the scene for a comprehensive if not slightly disjointed victory over bottom of the league Bangor.
David Sharkey claimed the Bangor kick off and Wayne Lyons and Ryan Wilson brought play into the Bangor half. A couple of phases later Rodney Bennett crashed over for the opening try. Lyons converted and Valley were up and running. Debutant hooker Nathan Orr was settling well and took a strike against the head to set up Valley’s second try. Ryan Wilson crossed after a sustained period of pressure on the Bangor line. Lyons’ conversion made it 14 – 0 after seven minutes.
Complacency then set in and this, combined with the Valley penalty malaise, contributed to Bangor coming back into the game. Ally Breen made some booming clearance kicks to keep the visitors pinned back. Bennett, who was cutting some great attacking lines, turned over ball on halfway. Second row James McFarland, who was industrious throughout, carried the move on and the forwards interchanged passes to send Andy Breen in for the third try. This went unconverted and Valley turned round at half time 19 points to the good.
Valley started to play “sevens” rugby, which, while exciting for the spectators, was always going to be a high-risk strategy. This proved to be the case when a loose pass was hacked through and Bangor were gifted a seven-pointer.
Common sense then prevailed and Valley went back to basics and became more clinical in their execution. All the players contributed in the last half hour as Valley sealed a valuable bonus-point win. Philip Moore scored after good work by Johnny McClure, Wayne Lyons and Ally Breen. Lyons converted for a 26 – 7 lead. A Ryan Wilson break sent McClure clear. He was tackled short of the line and good hands by forwards and backs released Davy Speer who crossed for an unconverted try.
A deft off-load by McFarland put Wilson in for his second try and Ivan Dunn crossed for a deserved try after another Wilson break. Both were converted by Lyons to leave the final score 45 – 7 to the home team. Valley face a difficult away trip to Dromore on Saturday.
Note, the popular Clogher Valley Christmas shop is open again this year on Main Street, Fivemiletown, on Saturday 18th December. All Club merchandise is available for children up to adults.
