ENNISKILLEN ............................... 20
CLOGHER VALLEY ........................... 3
Enniskillen gave their survival hopes a big boost when they overcame their closest neighbours under the Mullaghmeen lights last Thursday night.
Enniskillen suffered a setback before the game started when prop Richard Beatty was ruled out through illness and without a recognised tight head prop the scrums were a bit shaky, but the forwards were largely able to hold their own.
It was a tense opening with both sides sizing each other up, and outhalf Richie Finlay cleverly used the kicking game to push Valley back into their own half. However, Valley took the lead on eight minutes with a penalty after Enniskillen were charged with collapsing a driving maul.
Skins had problems all night with the excellent mauling of the visitors, but despite this the early penalty was all Valley had to show for their efforts.
Willie Gibson was again to the fore and early on displayed his intentions for the evening with a shuddering hit to stop a Valley runner in his tracks. Indeed, the defensive display was second to none, with everyone putting the hits in to keep Clogher Valley at bay.
Enniskillen drew level on 17 minutes when they used the catch and drive expertly to their own benefit pushing play into the visitors' '22'. The lineout was suffering from the absence of Stuart Bradshaw but as the game went on Steve Welsh started to find his men with greater regularity, with Tim Law especially growing in stature. The backs were given the opportunity to take things on, but an offside in midfield halted progress and Finlay slotted over the penalty coolly.
The first try of the night came with just over half an hour played. David McDonald seized the initiative with a penalty that was taken quickly and after making some yards offloaded to Darren Cochrane who also made valuable ground before looking to feed winger Keith Armstrong. The initial pass went to ground, but Armstrong did well to recover and out-muscle his opposite number.
Then one-on-one with the full-back, his dancing feet mesmerised the defender into a desperate lunge and Armstrong stretched to beat the covering defender and spot the ball down. Finlay added the conversion for a 10–3 lead.
Clogher Valley did put Enniskillen under a period of pressure but again the defence was sound. The best opportunity to reduce the arrears was squandered with three minutes of the half remaining when a generous penalty, and additional ten metres from the referee, was missed.
The visitors continued to use the driving maul in the second half, and it looked like this was to be their best chance to cut into the 'Skins lead, even spurning a number of penalty chances. Enormous pressure on the Enniskillen front row in a scrum 12 minutes in ended with Gavin Warrington having to leave the field. With Enniskillen having lost Neil Armstrong in the latter stages of the first half, it meant that the game was forced to proceed with uncontested scrums for safety considerations.
The change worked well for Enniskillen and five minutes later they had extended their lead. Mattie Maguire started things off with three big tackles in midfield in a matter of seconds epitomising the effort and desire being shown by the hungrier Enniskillen side.
A high kick was fielded and with possession secure McDonald pumped the ball downfield. Armstrong was first to the ball hacking on ahead and both he and Chris Maguire reached the ball first. Having already scored, Armstrong generously gave credit for the score to Maguire, as he had got both hands to the ball to Armstrong's one.
Having seen the scoring tables and the race for top try scorer in the club later, Armstrong may not have felt so generous, as this still leaves him one behind Mattie Maguire! Again, Finlay's conversion was successful and the lead was stretched to 17–3.
Enniskillen's tails were up and they were running the ball at the visitors with increased regularity and seemingly at will. Cochrane had moved up to play in the back row following Warrington's departure, and along with Gibson and Richard Lee effectively stopped Valley gaining any quality ball. A penalty from Finlay with a quarter of an hour to go was the final score of the match.
Clogher kept plugging away, but were getting little change out of the home side. The driving maul continued to give Enniskillen cause for concern, and with five minutes remaining Tim Law was yellow carded by the referee for collapsing a maul. At the time, this looked like 'Skins would be forced to finish the game down to 14 men, but three minutes later a fracas broke out after some great defence against two driving mauls by Enniskillen.
Inexplicably, when the dust settled, it was two home players who were shown the yellow card, against none of the visitors. Regardless, the 12 men held out for the final two minutes, and a further five of injury time, to seal what could be an important victory come the season's end. The win not only gave Enniskillen two valuable points, it also ensured that Armagh secured top spot in the league.
Attention now turns to the Town's Cup, and the visit of Dungannon this Saturday. Enniskillen are in a rich vein of form, and in the past four weeks have beaten three of the top four in the league, an achievement that a few months back seemed unrealistic.
FIXTURES
3rd March: 1st XV – home – Dungannon II – Powerade Town's Cup; 2nd XV – home – Portadown III – League; 3rd XV – away – Shorts – Forster Cup; 4th XV – home – Lisburn III – Butler Shield. 4th March: Ladies – away – Newbridge - Cup.
