Clogher Valley finished off its Qualifying One campaign with a comfortable 22-7 victory over league champions Instonians at the Cran.
On a sunny spring afternoon, with both sides missing players, it was Valley who started best. A well judged kick from Armstrong brought Valley into the Instonians 22 after 2 minutes. A Sharkey take at the lineout was the catalyst for a series of Valley pick and gos which rocked the visitors’ defence back. With the Instonians defence over-committed to the ruck the Valley captain Best spotted the gap and touched down on 5 minutes. The conversion was missed to give Valley a 5-0 lead.
A faulty restart from Instonians gave the ball back to Valley who proceeded the put the ball through the hands and stretch the home defence with good yardage being made by Sharkey, Armstrong and Stott. Things went from bad to worse for Instonians on 17 minutes when they had a player yellow-carded.
It seemed only a matter of time before this would produce another score for Valley. This was not to be however when, after Valley ball was turned over in the Instonians 22, the visitor’s winger started on a mazy run which exposed a series of soft Valley tackles and led to him eventually touching down under the Valley posts. The extras were added to give Instonians an unlikely 7-5 lead on 19 minutes.
The game thereafter opened up with Valley dominating possession and territory and playing a fairly expansive game and Instonians also keen to play with width. A series of attacks just outside the Instonians 22 saw Valley move the ball along its backline and when Agnew brought play back inside the ball eventually found Bennett who took route one and galloped over from 20 metres out. The conversion was missed but Valley were 10-7 back in front after 27 minutes.
With a strong setpiece and territorial domination it seemed likely that Valley would add to their total before halftime but a combination of bad luck and clever poaching by Instonians at ruck time meant that the score remained 10-7 at the end of the first half.
The second half started as the first half had with Valley on the offensive. Great continuity and ball retention, after runs by Breen, Stott and Trenier, saw the Instonians defence stretched. The Valley pack mauled the home pack backwards and it was Treanor who did the hard yards to score Valley’s third try on 44 minutes. The conversion was missed but Valley led 15-7.
At this stage Instonians sought to regain the momentum with a breakout from their back row up the middle bringing play right into the Valley half. Sterling defending from Breen, McKenna and Agnew were to repell the Instonians attacks. Valley then turned defence into attack and when Armstrong and Breen had spilt the home defence the supporting Bennett touched down for Valley’s fourth try close to the posts. Armstrong added the conversion to give Valley a 22-7 lead.
The rest of the match saw Instonians desperately trying to use possession to best effect but stout Valley defence was to limit any further score. The vistors’ frustration was evident when the referee produced a further yellow on 55 minutes. As the last quarter commenced, with Valley again in attack, an injury to Stott saw the referee blow the match up early.
Valley will now turn their attention to cup finals for the 1st XV (the Towns Cup final on Easter Monday) and the 2nd XV (Crawford Plate on 18 April) to bring a largely successful season to a suitable conclusion.
