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Image (c) Steve Haslett
Match Report
Limavady v Clogher Valley
Saturday 22nd December 2018
The festivities started today at Limavady Rugby Club with an excellent pre-Christmas lunch with the Club House filled to capacity, followed by a top of the table clash against Clogher Valley. Going into the game Clogher held a slender one point lead. The early play favoured Clogher with their strong pack controlling the set pieces however it was Limavady who drew first blood. Following a swift counter attack John Purcell was able to get his hands on the ball and power his way over the line. With the conversion missed Limavady managed to hold on to their slender lead until the 38th minute. This was achieved by stout defence with every player putting their bodies on the line. Just before the half-time whistle they did concede though when the referee awarded Clogher a penalty following an off-side offence. They close to go for the posts and reduced the deficit to just two points. Fortunately for Limavady though, Clogher infringed from the restart and Jim McCartney was able to match Clogher’s penalty to move the gap out to five points again.
Half Time: Limavady 8 Clogher Valley 3
The second half was very much Limavady’s. With Clogher’s heavy pack tiring Limavady were able to win the upfront battle and bring their backline into play. With Peter Wilson and Gavin Martin controlling matters from half back they were able to get their backline running freely. Following a great break in midfield by Jody McMurray the ball was moved wide for Stuart Roddy to squeeze in, in the corner. Ten minutes later try number three would follow. Credit for this must be attributed to John McCollum when he managed to turn over possession and feed Bob Lamberton. Bob showed a clean pair of heels to his opposite number and as he drew Clogher’s last line of defence he slipped the ball to the supporting Matthew Haslett who crashed over. What had been a tight affair up until this point now saw Limavady chasing a fourth try to ensure the bonus point win. This followed shortly after when Peter Wilson took a quick tap penalty and with the excellent John McCollum alert to what was happening, reacted to take the pass and dive over the line. Peter Wilson completed an excellent team display when he slotted the conversion to leave the final score 25.3 in Limavady’s favour.
Everyone connected with the club were delighted with the day’s activities and can now enjoy the Christmas celebrations and then look forward to the second half of the season.
