Having decided to play into the strong breeze in the first half the Valley men were forced to soak up early Ballymoney pressure as the home side used the wind to keep their opponents pinned back in the 22.

    It was the visitors, however, that managed to get the first points on the board with a try out of the top drawer. From a scrum close to the Valley line Bates released Kyle on the wing who bulled his way round his man to take play over half way. The back row of Lyons, Haire and Wiliamson, who were never far from the action throughout the half, were on hand immediately to recycle the ball for the back line. Slick passing in the backs found Breen with enough space on the outside to out-sprint the covering defence and touch down in the corner.

    Clogher began to take control of the game and began to look unstoppable with ball in hand. Breen added his second of three scores midway through the half to take the visitors lead to 10-0 amid the expectation that the floodgates would now open.

    It was another fifteen-man effort that created the build up for the third try of the day. Excellent support play set up several phases of possession and more quality ball for the backs. Robinson exposed a gap in the centre before offloading to the full back to complete his hatrick. Brown added the conversion that was to be the Valley’s last points of the game.

    The Valley kicked off the second half with the elements in their favour but with an air of complacency. Both poor concentration and decision making gave rise to a lack-lustre display by the Valley men for the remainder of the contest. The home side were allowed to run at the Valley defence and managed to keep play in the Valley half for long periods. The visitors defence was eventually breached with about fifteen minutes to go and a try-saving turnover by Haire, a short time later in front of the posts, was all that prevented Ballymoney from getting back into the game.