Monivea 6 Clogher Valley 27

Clogher Valley finally returned to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over Monivea in the All Ireland Junior Cup in Connaught on Saturday.
Monivea showed their intent from the start and only good defence kept them at bay in the opening exchanges. 
Slowly Valley got into the game and started to make some inroads without creating any real opportunities. The deadlock was broken after 16 minutes when Valley turned over a Monivea maul and Ryan Wilson drove over for the first of his four tries. Trotter converted and Valley led 7-0.
Valley failed to deal with the restart and immediately Monivea had a penalty chance which was missed. 
However, minutes later another penalty saw them reduce the deficit to four points.
Straight from the restart Valley reclaimed possession and after good mauling by the pack Wilson went over for his second try again converted by Trotter.
The remainder of the half saw both sides locked in midfield until the last minute when Valley were awarded a penalty. Trotter stepped up to convert and Valley led 17-3 at half time.
The first minute of the second half saw Valley concede a penalty in front of the posts. Monivea converted. 
Valley pack were dominating the forward exchanges and it was no surprise when Wilson picked up from the base of a scrum and drove over for his third try. The kick was missed but Valley led 22-6 after 60 minutes.
With nothing to lose Monivea began to throw the ball around but could find no way through the stout Valley defence. Valley were forcing Monivea to attack from deep in their own half. Ten minutes from the end Valley mounted a good attack with forwards and backs handling. The move was rounded off by another well taken try by Wilson and Valley were effectively home and dry at 27-6.
So, Valley achieved their first win this season. Overall a good team performance with belligerent defence and forward power being too much for Monivea. Another major positive for the team was the return of Sharkey for 15 minute spells. His leadership skills lifted the young team at key moments.
Valley have a shorter journey in the next round when they travel to high flying Portadown on November 12.