Clogher Valley 57 Grosvenor 0

Clogher Valley wrapped up the Championship Division One title on Saturday with an emphatic win over Grosvenor at the Cran.

The match, which was a ‘double header’, league and Junior Cup was a one-sided affair with the Valley winning 57-0 after 50 minutes of play.

Valley had already won the league and the Grosvenor faithful were not relishing the encounter at the Cran.

With a few changes to the Valley side, it was business as normal with nine tries scored in the 50 minutes of play.

Grosvenor started with a flurry and held the Valley out for six minutes, but that was to be the end of their fight.

First try

It was the Valley pack who were to start the scoring proceedings with a ‘pick and go’ from the base of the ruck. Eugene McKenna spotting a gap, exploded from the base of the ruck and went through the Grosvenor defence to score the first try.

Ewan Haire on kicking duties, added the conversion.

Valley skipper Paul Armstrong was the next on the scoring sheet, when he hacked through a loose ball twice, outsprinted the Grosvenor defence to score. Haire added the conversion and after 15 minutes Clogher led 14-0.

The home side domination of the match was now evident.

A scrum 40 metres out was secured, Callum Smyton picked up and sprinted 20 metres, before popping the ball to flying winger Taine Haire to complete the remaining 20 metres to score in the corner.

The score rate of one point per minute was now in motion.

The bonus point was secured by David Stinson at the 21-minute point, when he received a pass on his own half way line, he galloped towards the Grosvenor line, throwing an outrageous dummy he fooled both the winger and full back, seeing the space in front of him he kept going and going, scoring in the corner. The Valley now led 24-0.

Scoring machine

It was the try scoring machine, Phillip Wilson who was next on the score sheet.

Paul Armstrong spotting a gap in the defence, put through a grubber kick, Wilson out sprinted the defenders, gathered the ball at pace and cantered over to add another try to his tally. Ewan Haire added the conversion and the Valley led 31-0 after 25 minutes.

The clock had only ticked by another minute before the next score. Richard Primrose burst through several tackles before popping the ball to the other try scoring machine Taine Haire, to collect and sprint in to add to his season’s huge tally of points.

The large home crowd had to wait another six minutes for the next try, when Callum Smyton broke from the back of a scrum, Michael Bothwell and Paul Armstrong popped the ball to each other several times as they carved through the Grosvenor defence, Armstrong was in possession of the ball when he crossed the line to score his second try. Ewan Haire added the conversion and the Valley led 43-0 at half time.

The crowd started to drift towards the other match Clogher Valley 2s v Ballyclare 2s on the adjoining pitch, where there was a real contest taking place.

The Valley 1st XV, however, were not finished scoring.

It was four minutes into the second half when David Stinson added a second try to his personal tally with another mid pitch break and then five minutes later to finish off, Michael Bothwell set up Callum Smyton for his first try of the match. Ewan Haire added the conversion, and the score was 57-0 after 50 minutes.

It was clear from the body language of the Grosvenor team that there was little point in continuing, so when their skipper requested the referee to bring proceedings to a close, Paul Armstrong was happy to comply.

The Valley wrapped up the Kukri Ulster Rugby Championship Division One league with an easy win, leaving them with 85 points, five points ahead of Ballyclare and 28 points ahead of third place Cooke.

The Valley takes the title with 17 wins, all with a try bonus point and just one defeat.

Play Offs

Regrettably, winning the league does not ensure promotion. Clogher now enter into a play-off against the Lenister, Connaught and Munster Division One winners to determine who goes into the All Ireland League.

Coupled with the Towns’ Cup and the Ulster Junior Cup, there is still lots of rugby still to be played.

 

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