Clonmel 0

Clogher Valley 31

Clogher Valley coach Davy Black described his side's opening 30 minutes performance in their All Ireland Junior Cup quarter-final win over Munster champions Clonmel as 'awesome.'

Clogher simply blew away their opponents with some devastating rugby to race into a 24-0 lead by the half hour mark and there was no looking back from there as they finished up 31-0 winners to book their place in the last four of the competition.

"It was an awesome first 30 minutes," said Black. "We had made a long journey and we were coming up against a team that are unbeaten this year but the boys came flying out of the blocks and everything they did was clinical. The first 30 minutes was just textbook rugby and it was a great performance although in saying that it just gets us into the semi-final."

The game was played on a chilly afternoon at the Tipperary venue and the Valley team were in irresistible form throughout.

Indeed, Clogher were quickly into their stride as Sharkey touched down after the visitors pack had shredded the Clonmel defence. Holme added the conversion to see Valley leading 7-0 after three minutes.

Great kicking by half backs Best and Holme, who had commanding games, heaped more pressure on Clonmel. A spell of great continuity between the Valley forwards and backs saw McKenna, who was to go to produce a man of the match performance, touch down for a further try on 11 minutes. Holme again added the conversion to extend Valley’s lead to 14-0.

Valley continued in dominant form and two more tries were scored in the second quarter. A series of penalties to Valley allowed the visitors to establish good field position. A powerful catch and drive from the lineout led to Valley’s third try on 23 minutes. The conversion was missed.

Four minutes later Valley were to score their best try of the match. Holme made a fine break just on halfway and found his half back partner Best in support. Best accelerated into the Clonmel 22 and split the defence before passing to Sharkey who touched down in the corner for Valley’s fourth try. The difficult conversion was missed but Valley were more than good value for their 24-0 lead and there were no further scores to half time.

The second half began with Clonmel trying to get back into the game. A series of attacks orchestrated by their lively out-half tested the Valley defence. On each and every occasion resolute and aggressive tackling by the Valley – with great work by the Valley back row and Speer and Breen in particular - snuffed out any chance of a score for Clonmel.

A period of pressure by Clonmel came to an end following a Treanor steal at the breakdown. Speer then broke out of defence and provided a great offload to the onrushing Valley support to bring play right back into the Clonmel half around the 60 minute mark.

Following three successive collapsed scrums inside the Clonmel 22, the referee was to lose patience and awarded a penalty try to the Valley on 63 minutes. Holme added the conversion to leave the Valley 31-0 in front.

There was to be no further score as Valley emptied the bench to give the rest of the squad a run out. The last minutes also saw a Valley player yellow carded. Following an injury to the Clonmel out half, in the dying minutes of the match, the referee blew for full time and Valley are now into the semi-final of the All Ireland Junior Cup on December 12.

As the Valley club continues its 25th anniversary celebrations the win was up there with the best with a committed squad performance and every player making a contribution. Indeed Clonmel, coached by former Irish player Denis Leamy, have rarely been beaten at home and have never in recent memory failed to score any points in a game.

And the big games are coming thick and fast for Clogher with a Junior Cup semi-final at home to Bangor scheduled for Saturday.

"Bangor are going well, they are top of the league and have a massive squad but after last week's performance we'll be going into the game with confidence and while we know it is going to be tough we'll be looking to kick on," added Black.

The next few weeks will be critical for the Valley season as they play Bangor in the semi-final of the Ulster Junior Cup at the Cran next Saturday. If they continue to play like this they will be hard to beat.

On a great day for Valley adult teams, Ian McKeown’s 2nd XV had a comprehensive win away at Banbridge and Timmy Moore’s 3rd XV had a big win at home to remain at the top of their league.