Clogher Valley 1st XV 68 Limavady 1st XV 12

Clogher Valley maintained their relentless push at the top of Kukri Ulster Rugby Championship Division One with a resounding ten-try win over bottom of the table Limavady on Saturday.

The 68-12 victory made it nine wins out of nine for league leaders Clogher, who sit five points clear of second-placed Ballyclare in the table at the midway stage of the campaign.

Limavady were not relishing a run-out against the in-form team, especially at the Cran, which is becoming a fortress for the Valley.

The game had only started when David Maxwell crashed over on the left touchline to open the scoring for the home side.

He converted his own try and the Valley led after only three minutes.

And 10 minutes later, the score was doubled.

A Valley scrum on the Limavady 22 was secured, David Sharkey broke, then popped the ball to Corneel Michem, who burst through to score. Maxwell added the extras, and the Valley were up by 14 points.

A few minutes later a Limavady line-out went amiss, and the Valley pounced from deep in their own half, with Taine Haire scoring in the corner. Maxwell added the conversion from the touchline and the Valley led 21-0.

Increased speed

This shook Limavady into action. They increased their speed to the breakdown and spread the ball wide, matching Valley’s pace around the pitch.

They were rewarded with an unconverted try.

Valley, annoyed with their poor defence, struck back immediately from the restart.

They stole a Limavady ball, spread wide and then back inside to Richard Primrose, who muscled his way over from 10 metres out.

David Maxwell added the conversion, and the Valley had their try bonus point.

Minutes later Adam Boles gathered the ball in his own half, leaving the Limavady flanker in his wake. He cruised past the next defender and managed to wriggle past the full back to score right in the corner.

As half time was beckoning, a kick through from Limavady was collected by Ewan Haire. Stepping his way through some defenders, he released his younger brother Taine, who popped to Adam Boles, then back to Ewan Haire to score. Maxwell added the conversion and the Valley led comfortably 40-5.

Limavady, to their credit, kept going and added another score before the interval to bring the score to 40-12.

The crowd expected the flood gates to open in the second half, but this was not to be the case, although Clogher did manage to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

12 minutes into the second half, a Valley line-out was secured, the maul drove towards the Limavady line and David Sharkey dived over to score. Maxwell added the conversion.

Five minutes later, Limavady expected the Valley to do a repeat at the line-out, but this time the ball was popped out to the backs and Taine Haire danced his way through the defenders to add to the Valley total.

Maxwell added the conversion and the home side led 54-12.

With confidence in the home side at a high, the team started to throw the ball around, mixing backs with forwards.

A fantastic break from Corneel Michem was stopped 10 metres out, but Kyle Cobane was on hand to take the pass and burst over for another converted Valley try.

As the match was ending, it was the Valley veteran David Sharkey who had the last word, scoring his second try under the posts.

David Maxwell ended a great kicking display with another two points.

Maxwell topped the scoring with 23 points to his name and picked up Player of The Match.

Ten tries to the Valley gave the home side a comfortable 68-12 win over Limavady.

There were four changes to this Valley side, but such is the depth of the squad that it made no difference.

David Sharkey at number 8, Neil Trotter at scrum half, Corneel Michem at inside centre and Michael Bothwell outside centre all came in but it was service as normal.

Their performance will certainly give Coach Stephen Bothwell a selection headache for this week’s All Ireland Junior Cup clash against Cooke at Shaws Bridge.

Elsewhere Clogher Valley 2nd XV had a narrow 31- 28 win over Grosvenor 2nds, Clogher Valley Women had a 20-10 win over Lurgan, and the U-16 Girls had a comfortable 43-5 win over Ballymoney.