Clogher Valley Head Coach Stephen Bothwell was a happy man on Saturday night as he saw his side retain the All-Ireland Junior Cup with victory over local rivals Enniskillen at Kingspan Stadium.

Valley ran out 30-18 victors on the night, but Bothwell says that it was a closer game than the final scoreline suggested.

“To win it two years in a row is huge for the club.

“For Enniskillen to be here and play a West derby in Kingspan is superb, and credit for Enniskillen, who put up such a great game against us.

“It was nip and tuck; I know there were 12 points in it at the end but that score at the end for us give us that advantage – it was a lot nervier than that during the game, and we are delighted to get over the line again.

“It makes all the hard work that much easier to do again when you get the rewards,” he said.

Clogher piled pressure on Skins from the start as they looked to assert their dominance on the ball and built up a 10-0 lead, but Bothwell felt that they didn’t make enough of their territory and possession superiority in that period.

“With our scrum in so much control for that first 20, and playing on the Enniskillen line, we are disappointed to come away from there without more points.

‘Wrong decisions’

“There were a few wrong decisions from our boys, but they will learn from that. When you are so close to the line, you have to turn it into scores, because you can pay the ultimate penalty and lose the game when you don’t get points there, but we are lucky the boys stuck at it and got back down there to get their scores,” he added.

Enniskillen landed two penalties in the latter stages of the first half to bring them back to within four points and into contention at half time.

So, what was the message for the Clogher players at the interval?

It was just to keep the ball in the right areas of the park.

“Obviously, Eddie [Keys] kicked their points, and he has a super boot, so you want to keep him out of range.

“It was just play territory, and then play rugby, when we get in the right areas of the park.

“I thought maybe the ball sometimes went wide too early, and their drift defence worked well on us. They were smart in their defence, and we meet them in a few weeks in the league, and it is something for us to work on to try and make that better,” he said.

That next meeting will be in the league, and Clogher’s eyes are now firmly fixed on trying to claim that title too.

“We have five games now left in the league, and they basically have to get 20 points out of 25.

“To get that league is one of our main goals, and still is, so the boys’ feet will remain firmly on the ground. It will be back to business next Saturday against Limavady, and to try and get that top spot in the league and see if we can represent Ulster in the play-offs.”

Last Saturday night was the third big title secured by Valley, and Bothwell acknowledges that if they want to play at a higher level, then they need to be winning these trophies.

“To do it back-to-back is great, and if we have aspirations to go up, we really need to be doing that to make sure that we are ready to go up and play the standard of rugby that we are doing consistently,” he added.