Skins coach Stevie Welsh had no complaints as they suffered derby day defeat to Clogher at Mullaghmeen on Saturday.

Skins failed to make the most of early dominance and were made to pay as a clinical Clogher claimed the victory.

“It was definitely disappointing. We started really well, we were in the right position on the pitch and we maybe blocked down three of their kicks but we just didn’t score in that first 15 or 20 minutes when we had all the ball and all the pressure.

“In fairness to Clogher they had great belief and they came back and proved their quality with a couple of good scores and we found ourselves chasing the game and left a bit too much to do. Fair play to Clogher, they thoroughly deserved it on Saturday,” admitted Welsh.

He felt that the game would have been different had Skins been able to get their noses in front in the opening stages of the contest.

“We weren’t clinical at all over that first 15 or 20 minute when we should have had one or two scored at least.

“I thought we maybe should have been 10 points up and with us being a more experienced team than them that would put you in a good position and then let them try and chase it rather than the other way around. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way and Clogher took their scores well,” he added.

Skins though will have a chance put things right when they take on Instonians this Saturday.

Enniskillen Rugby Club took the decision to temporarily close down after a 3rd XV player tested positive for Covid-19 but Welsh expects this Saturday’s game to go ahead with the player in question part of a separate team bubble.

“The player that tested positive was in a different bubble to our own so it shouldn’t have any effect on us and the game away to Instonians should go ahead.

“They are a quality team but hopefully we will get back to training on Thursday night and get the head down and get a reaction from the boys,” he said.

Clogher coach Stevie Bothwell was full of praise for the performance of his defence as they stood firm under early Skins pressure before then being clinical with their own chances.

“We have been close now for two seasons so it was nice to get a win in the end.

“The boys played well, we had a lot of defending so I suppose our defence won it.

“The first 15 or 20 minutes, Enniskillen put us under a bit of pressure on our line and we defended really well and once we got out of there we grew a lot in confidence getting out of our own 22 without conceding points, started to play a bit of rugby, moved the ball well and got a score,” he said.

Bothwell also felt the key thing in that first half was Clogher not conceding penalties.

“We knew that if you gave away a penalty to them they will kick into the 22 and get good field position and obviously they are hard to keep out because they have heavy men coming around the corner hard at you and they don’t care if they make an inch a time they will keep the ball until they get over the line.

“But our defence in those situations was really good and our scrum went from strength to strength which is really pleasing,” he added.

He felt though that they invited pressure in the second half by conceding penalties.

“We conceded a few too many in the second half for my liking. We always knew Enniskillen would come hard at us in the second half and we had two yellow cards.

“In the second half we brought pressure on to ourselves by making silly mistakes,” he stated.

Clogher though weathered the storm in the second half to deservedly claim the win and Bothwell hopes that it is a boost going into three tough games.

“Our next three games are tough ones, C.I seems to have recruited well and we have them on Saturday.

“And then we have Dromore and then Ballyclare it’s very quickly in the season you can see where you are going to be in around the table. This is a great boost for the young boys though to get a win in the derby,” he said.