No stroll in the valley for Inishowen

Clogher Valley 0 ---20 Inishowen
January 19th 2008

When Inishowen hosted Clogher early in the season, they recorded one of their biggest scores to date, putting 62 point past the Tyrone men and playing free flowing attractive rugby, Saturdays encounter was a completely different affair and proved to be a dogged encounter that could easily have swung either way.

Clogher set their stall out from early on, with good strong driving incursions into the Inishowen half by their able pack, accompanied by some forceful running from their centres giving the peninsula men some hard defensive work to do, and testing their nerve.

This nerve, it must be said was a little shaky, although they defended well, when they did get the ball in hand, the decision making was a little erratic and set methods of play forgotten in the initial heat of battle. But as the game wore on, a degree of control entered their play, and they were able to settle somewhat and play a more controlled brand of rugby.

There were good scoring opportunities in the early stages when Inishowen caught and drove from lineouts near the Clogher try line, and although they got tantalisingly close, they were repelled due to good defensive work, and perhaps it must be said, choosing the wrong options, with the forwards trying to batter a way through a well locked door, when the more prudent option may have been to spread the ball to where the space to attack was.

The game continued much in the same vein for the rest of the first half, with few scoring opportunities occurring for either side, until seconds before the half time whistle when the Muff colossus that is Paddy Johnston drove towards the line, desperate defenders clinging on in an attempt to halt his charge, Paddy’s score was denied as the wet ball squirted out of his grasp inches away from glory.

After the restart, the game continued in the same competitive manner, each team defending then counter attacking trying to find the chink in the armour of the opponent, and for the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, this status quo remained, until Finn McCormick, in a favourable position thanks to good work from the forwards, managed to open the scoring when he slotted over a drop goal to ease Inishowen 3 – 0 ahead.

This score proved to be the stimulus that Inishowen needed to step their game up by a degree, and from this slight advantage, they were able to consolidate their lead with some better attacking rugby. Oliver McConelogue, back for his first game following his injury sustained against Lisburn 1st’s, showed good speed, skill and determination to touch down, furthering Inishowens advantage as McCormick added the conversion to 10 – 0.

This was followed soon after with a McCormick penalty before the final score of the encounter, brilliant work from the backline made the ball available for scrum half Mark Glasha to scamper over the line to seal Cloghers fate.

The home side, although now 20 points down with only minutes to play, did not give up battling for a second, and spent the remainder of the game ensconced within spitting distance of the Inishowen try line, battling for the consolation score. Stout defensive work from the visitors denied them this score however, and shortly after, the referee blew to bring this physical encounter to a close.

A game can usually be described as a forwards game or a backs game, depending on the opposition, but in Clogher, Inishowen found an opponent who challenged them in every department and pushed them all the way. This was a big wake up call for Inishowen, and an indication of the probable conditions for the rest of the season as they play their away fixtures.

Congratulations to both Crawford Norris and Paul Cassidy who were both brought into the Inishowen backline due to the unavailability of Captain Shaun Craig and Paul McMenamin. They both gave very good accounts of themselves in this competitive fixture and proven their ability to perform well in such conditions despite their lack of experience.

TEAM

B Harkin
M Harkin
P Johnston
M McCrossan
C Kelly
A McLaughlin
A Cantwell
J Carr
M Glasha
P Cassidy
C Mulkearns
C Norris
O McConelogue
S Hegarty