The traveling Skerries contingent received the warmest of welcomes on their first visit to ‘The Cran’ of Clogher Valley on Saturday but there wasn’t much further warmth on offer, either in terms of the conditions, or the final result, as the hosts ran out 39-24 winners in this AIL 2B Round 8 clash.
The remnants of Storm Darragh were still making their presence felt as the much-anticipated meeting of third and fourth in the table kicked off, with Skerries initially playing with the aid of a strong breeze almost straight down the Co Tyrone venue.
Unsurprisingly, the visitors looked to make the most of the advantage in the early exchanges and some varied kicking options saw them enjoy plenty of territory, without creating any guilt-edged opportunities.
Instead, it was left to Clogher Valley to open the scoring on the 15-minute mark, when a lineout on halfway set captain Paul Armstrong crashing up the middle and when the big centre evaded the first couple of would-be tacklers, he saw no reason to stop and duly beat another few defenders on his way to the tryline, with David Maxwell converting for 7-0.
Skerries responded a couple of minutes later through a penalty from the boot of Ronan Mulcahy, but the powerful Clogher Valley scrum was already beginning to get the upper hand, and with conditions as they were, this was always going to a key area of the game.
After an earlier penalty at the scrum gave the hosts a great attacking platform, their initial thrust was repelled but with Skerries then looking to clear their lines from a put-in on their own five-metre line, they were shoved off the ball and ‘Valley’ back-row David Stinson crashed over for their second try of the afternoon.
With just over five minutes remaining in the half, it seemed Skerries had left themselves a mountain to climb but some extended pressure eventually told, as a tap penalty deep inside Clogher Valley territory saw Sam Deering barrel over a few phases later.
Mulcahy added the extras to close the gap to just two points and within a couple of minutes had his team in front as he latched onto a neat chip through from Paul O’Loghlen to win the race to the touchdown, and his third successful kick made it 12-17.
Crucially, the hosts scored again before the half-time break as another penalty to touch set up a strong rolling maul and prop Michael Treanor was credited with the score. With the conversion missed, it left the sides all square at the interval.
Turning into the breeze in the second period, Skerries set their stall out with some impressive ball retention and dogged defending.
Their endeavour was rewarded when an attempted clearance kick was blocked down and the belligerent Paddy Finn swept up the loose ball, swatted aside a couple of tacklers and make it all the way to the line, with Mulcahy maintaining his 100% record from the tee to make it 17-24 with half an hour to play.
With the Clogher Valley scrum continuing to make inroads, the hosts looked to make use of the platform at every available opportunity and it eventually proved fruitful as the ball was worked wide and then back for Treanor to claim his second, and a bonus point fourth for his team, on the hour mark.
Maxwell’s conversion had the sides level once again and with all to play for, but entering the final ten minutes, it was the hosts who turned the screw.
First, substitute James Morrison barged over from close range for another converted try on 70 minutes and then Maxwell booted a penalty to extend the lead to ten points.
Seeking another late flourish to ensure they didn’t come away empty-handed, on this occasion Skerries came up short and instead, it was left to Clogher Valley flanker Aaron Dunwoody to round out the scoring with another five-pointer deep into injury time.
The result sees Skerries drop out of the play-off places for the first time this season and things don’t get any easier, as league leaders Wanderers are the visitors to Holmpatrick next Saturday, but with a big festive crowd expected for the final competitive outing of 2024, they’ll hope to create an upset.
Skerries versus Clogher Valley:
- Trevor Scuffil
- Kieran Leonard (capt)
- Evann Shelley
- Sam Deering
- Ben McKiernan
- Alex Cleary
- Paddy Finn
- Peter O’Neill
- Shane Hannon
- Paul O’Loghlen
- Tim Deering
- Mike Sherlock
- Kevin McGrath
- Taidgh Keane-Boylan
- Ronan Mulcahy
- Darragh McEneaney
- Tomás O’Donovan
- Rossa Gilbride
- John Healy
- Jack Litchfield