ENNISKILLEN II.............. 20
CLOGHER VALLEY II........... 7
ENNISKILLEN Seconds recorded a comfortable victory to remain firmly in the top four of the league, having suffered back to back defeats to the top two sides.
Enniskillen started brightly and threatened from the off. A penalty was squandered after ten minutes and then another chance went begging following a second penalty when the option of a lineout was taken.
The backline was functioning effectively and Matt Drumm looked dangerous in the outside centre position, making one or two half breaks in midfield, but 'Skins were unable to capitalise on these early chances.
The best chance came after seventeen minutes and Johnny Wright was unlucky not to score, but some excellent Valley defence prevented him grounding the ball.
Niall Carberry made a nice break on the right wing and fed Mark O'Callaghan on the inside providing excellent support. He in turn fed Wright who made the line but could not score the try.
'Skins did however break the deadlock three minutes later when Keith Hurst slotted over a well struck penalty. Hurst was unlucky not to double the lead five minutes later when the deceiving angled breeze took his kick agonisingly past the left hand upright.
Enniskillen finally got the try their dominance deserved in the thirty-ninth minute when Richard Crawford scored a great team try. The build up was good with 'Skins retaining the ball through multiple phases.
Felix Quigley had a big run and when recycled Chris Dickey put the pressure on with a neat chip to the corner. Pressure from the lineout gave 'Skins possession back and Hurst firstly put Paul Burns through with an inside pass and then repeated the move to O'Callaghan, before Crawford finished the move off to make the score at halftime 8 – 0.
In the tenth minute of the second half Valley managed to break a tackle in midfield and the inside centre broke free into 'Skins territory, recovered his own kick ahead and scored too easily behind the posts.
It was the first time the visitors had caused the 'Skins defence any concerns and it was a wake up call they needed, as the lead was cut to one point.
It took 'Skins just five minutes to stretch their lead, and again it came when they retained possession, keeping the ball alive through many phases. This time Gavin Parke was the man with the final touch as be barged over for the try that made the score 13 – 7.
The game became a touch fractious after this score, as three players were shown yellow cards two for Valley and one for 'Skins. V
alley also lost a player to injury, but 'Skins were in no mood to be charitable and with ten minutes remaining O'Callaghan scored his side's third try, again the result of good pressure and keeping the ball alive through multiple phases.
Emmett McFadden added the conversion to finish the scoring at 20 – 7.
