Dromore 1st XV 0 Clogher Valley 1st XV 33

Clogher Valley maintained their title push on Saturday with a comprehensive 0-33 win away to fourth placed Dromore on Saturday.

The win keeps Clogher right on the heels of leaders Ballyclare with four points separating the sides but with Valley having played a game less.

It was a bitterly strong north wind that blew down the pitch at Barban Hill in Dromore, but despite the unpleasant conditions, the Valley put on a show for the large number of travelling supporters.

The match was only a few minutes old, when the visitors had something to cheer about.

The Valley put the pressure on the home side and David Maxwell took advantage of a gap in the defence to open the scoring in the corner. He converted his own try with a great kick from the side line.

Five minutes later, the Valley were on the score sheet again. A scrum five metres out from the Dromore try line was secured by the Valley pack, Callum Smyton picked up and went down the blind side, over the top of two Dromore defenders to score the visitors second try. Maxwell added the conversion and the Valley led 14-0.

Things didn’t get much better for the home side after this. A Valley lineout was secured 25 metres out, the pack decided they were going for a walk and walk they did, the maul went into the 22 metre area then kept going and going. It was David Sharkey in control of the ball when it was touched down. David Maxwell added the conversion, and the Valley were in control at 21-0.

The Valley started to dominate the game, putting together great phases of play. Even when Dromore had the ball, they could not break down the Valley defence and could not gain much ground.

At the 25-minute point, the visitors put together a great series of play, the ball was kicked through for Taine Haire to pick up and score in the corner.

The interval had the Valley leading 26-0, with the bonus point already secured.

The second half was a tougher encounter. The strong wind in their face made clearance kicks more difficult and Dromore started to put together several phases, but still struggled to make any advances from open play.

12 minutes into the second half, the Valley secured the lineout and set up a maul. The maul splintered and several phases later the visitors had gained 20 metres towards the Dromore line. After the forwards had taken the ball to within four metres from the line through pick and go, Michael Bothwell whipped the ball wide for Paul Armstrong to go through a gap. David Maxwell added the conversion to conclude the scoring for the day.

Dromore fought back, gaining ground from penalty kicks, but the struggled to gain any traction in open play against a strong Valley defence. The visiting Leinster referee blew on the 40 minute point to finish the game with the Valley the winners 33-0.

A strong solid performance for the Valley, against a side that never makes it easy. Corneel Mitchem was awarded player-of-the-match, for his attacking runs at inside centre, his defence and reading of the game.

Elsewhere in the Club; Valley 2nd XV won 24-6 against Grosvenor 2s with the 3rds winning 18-3 against City of Derry.

In the youth, the U18s demolished Armagh 52-14, with five tries from Shane Liggett, with the U16s going down to Malone 29-5.

Next week is a home match against Enniskillen in the league before both sides meet again the following week in the local clash at Kingspan in the All-Ireland Junior Cup.

Parking for the local derby is always an issue, spectators are asked to share lifts to reduce the number of cars at the Cran.