Win secures status but comes at a cost

Editorial Department • Published 1 Apr 2010 10:49 0 Comments

Share this

Clogher Valley 1st XV 18; Bangor 1st XV 6;

Clogher Valley 1st XV warmed up for their Towns' Cup final encounter with Ballymoney on Monday by securing their League One status with a convincing 18-6 win over Bangor. The win pulls them away from the relegation zone but the loss of influential scrum half Jimmy Bates was a big blow on an otherwise satisfactory day.

Coach Davy Black was delighted with the win but admitted that the performance was a bit like a team with bigger things on their mind.

"It was an important win and pulls us clear from the relegaton zone but the performance was a bit like that of a team that had one eye on the final. We ground out the result and that is the main thing although the loss of Jimmy Bates to injury is a big blow for the club and for him perosnally," rued Davy.

Once again Valley were slow to start and with an ill-functioning lineout and some dubious tackling, Bangor looked the more likely team to open the scoring. Sharkey and Falconer made good breaks but Bangor turned over possession and managed to clear the danger.

Another Falconer break was carried on by McFarland and Bangor were penalised for killing the ball. Ally Breen kicked to the corner and from the lineout Duhig was driven over for the opening try which went unconverted for 5-0. Bangor came back and forced Valley onto the back foot but the home defence held firm with Ally Breen was solid at full back and he made some telling clearance kicks to ease the pressure.

Bates was then the victim of a high tackle but the Bangor blindside escaped unpunished. Bates recovered sufficiently to launch an attack off a scrum which allowed Lyons to squeeze in at the posts. Again the conversion was missed but Valley now had a useful 10 - 0 lead approaching half time. Bell was also "clothes-lined" but this time the perpetrator was yellow-carded and McClure goaled the penalty to give Valley a 13 - 0 half-time lead.

Aaron Best replaced Bates at the start of the second half as a determined Bangor team strove to get back into the game. Valley started to leak penalties and their indiscipline allowed Bangor to narrow the gap with two successful penalties. Indeed both teams struggled with their place kicking as scoring opportunities were squandered at both ends of the pitch. Play became stagnated for long periods as both sets of forwards fought a war of attrition around the half way line. Another Falconer run broke the stalemate and after a period of Valley ball retention Ally Breen come close to scoring in the corner. Then, Lyons fielded a Bangor clearance kick inside his own half and launched a high garryowen. The Bangor full-back failed to gather and Johnny McClure hacked the loose ball into the 22. He won the race for the touch down and Valley's third try. Again the conversion was missed but with time running out Valley suddenly had a sniff of a bonus point. McClure had another opportunity when the ball was moved left but was halted by an alleged knock-on which heralded the full-time whistle.

The coaches will assess the injury situation with several players ahead of selecting the squad for the Powerade Towns Cup Final on Easter Monday.The Seconds match against Omagh on Wednesday night will give the fringe players the opportunity to put themselves in the frame for the Ravenhill showdown.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 01 Apr 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.