Saturday at the Cran witnessed a key top two clash. Both sides had few changes from their teams that played four titantic games last season so knew each other well. Ballyclare, playing with the slope, quickly were on the attack but a turnover penalty by Callum Smyton relieved the pressure for Valley. The game settled into a midfield battle but slowly Valley were exerting some control. The Valley defence were already causing problems for Ballyclare. Reece Smyton won a turnover in midfield then David Stinson won a Ballyclare lineout. After 12 minutes Valley compounded Ballyclare difficulties when they won a scrum against the head on the Ballyclare 22. Callum Smyton picked up and went blind and found a supporting Stinson on his shoulder to score the first try in the corner. Maxwell converted from the touchline and Valley led 7-0. After 15 minutes a long kick return by Ballyclare was collected by Armstrong who quickly spotted a gap and split the defence with a mazy run. He found a supporting Ewan Haire who finished off with a try in the corner. Again, Maxwell converted from the opposite touch line for a Valley 14-0 lead. The game became a midfield war of attrition with neither side able to break the others defence. Slowly Ballyclare gained momentum and Valley started to give away penalties deep in their own 22 which continued the pressure. Even with spending most of the time on the Valley 5 metre line Ballyclare could not break the resolute defence. Just before halftime another penalty awarded and Ballyclare decided to go for goal. The kick was missed, and Valley turned around at half time with a 14-0 lead.

Immediately at the restart Valley had a long-range attempt at goal just miss. However, they were starting to pin Ballyclare back in their own 22. The Valley scrum were now dominating and after 54 minutes had a scrum five metres out. As expected, Callum Smyton picked up, though with four defenders converging on him it appeared he would not be able to break through. Somehow, he did and scored under the posts. A Maxwell conversion took Valley to a relatively comfortable 21-0 lead. Valley continued to take the game to Ballyclare and a yellow card on 60 mins seemed to watching supporters to ensure a bonus point try would come especially as an earlier Armstrong chip had nearly led to another try but the ball just bounced awkwardly, and the chasing Valley player knocked on over the line. Somehow Ballyclare fought back. After 67 minutes a superb 50/22 clearance by them led to sustained assaults on the Valley line. The Valley defence continued to hold out, even when it looked certain Ballyclare would score. Eventually the pressure was relieved when Valley won another scrum penalty.

As the game petered to an end the Valley support were accepting the win without a bonus point. However, man of the match Matthew Bothwell had other ideas. In the last minute he stole a Ballyclare loose ball and led a Valley final attack. The ball was recycled and eventually found Ewan Haire free on the left wing to score in the corner and give Valley the precious bonus point. The difficult kick missed but the final whistle sounded with a resounding Valley win 26-0. Valley are now five points clear at the top of the league after five games, but still a long way to go. This, like other games, was decided by the Valley defence which is all encompassing. The players work for each other and refuse to concede points. Coupled with an attack that will create tries from nothing. A few statistics are telling. In five games Valley have scored 31 tries and conceded 4. This against three of the top five teams in the league. It is no wonder that increasing crowd numbers are watching their games.

Next week is a difficult visit to Cooke who have started the season well with only one defeat and are also in the top five. In the other games the U14 girls beat Omagh 23-10, the 3rds lost 22-24 in Monaghan on Friday night. On Saturday u14 and U16 boys recorded 29-7 and 32-5 wins versus Strabane whist the U18 lost 10-17 in Virginia. And finally on a very successful day for the club, in Belfast, the club won the prestigious NI Social Media Award for Best Social Media by a Charity. Congratulations to our PRO Rachel Fannin and all the people who support her efforts throughout the club in winning this award.