Council Chair hosts a reception for Clogher Valley RFC Ladies Team

Recently the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor John McClaughry, hosted a reception for Clogher Valley RFC Ladies Team in recognition of winning the Suzanne Fleming Cup.

The following is the speech made by the Chair at the reception:

Good evening, Councillors, ladies and gentlemen,

As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, I am pleased to welcome you all here to The Townhall, Enniskillen for this reception in honour of Clogher Valley Rugby Football Club Ladies Team, Suzanne Fleming Cup Champions 2025.

Your journey in the competition started in December 2024 at Round 2 stage as you had a buy in Round 1.  Your opponents were Monaghan Women and, despite playing at their home ground, you had a convincing win of 44 to 7.

This earned you a place in the semi-final which saw you travel to Virginia to take on Virginia Women on 16 February 2025.  You won the match 14-0 and earned your place in the final.

All roads led to the home of rugby, the Kingspan Stadium, for the final against Ballymena Women.  I understand you dominated the match from the start scoring after just 4 minutes through Marie Treanor.  You doubled your score after five minutes through Shauna O’Hagan and, despite a slight comeback from Ballymena, you held strong and finished the first half with a clean sheet and a scoreline of 36-0 with further tries from Katie Hetherington, Victoria Bothwell and Alexandra Bothwell.

Ballymena came out strong in the first half, however, you resumed the strong play you had shown in the first half scoring through Nicole Hetherington.  Ballymena then got their only score of the match.  Your talent and determination never wavered and you won the match with an impressive scoreline of 65-5.  This was even more impressive as you had played a match every weekend since the semi-final.

The 15 March 2025 will be a date etched in the your memories and those of the club as you made history winning the first competition trophy for the ladies team.

Playing a sport required a great level of fitness and knowledge and expertise of the game.  This requires commitment to attend training every week which can be challenging as you have work and family commitments also.  I would like to commend you for your dedication to the Club and for your determination as I understand that your goal was to overcome your defeat in the final last year and bring the trophy home.  You achieved this and showcased your outstanding talent along the way.  You are role models for other girls and young women pursuing rugby, or indeed any sport,  showing that if you have a dream and train hard you can enjoy special moments of success such as this.

I also commend Coaches David Black and Richard Haire for all your work to train the ladies and I thank you for giving your time and sharing your knowledge with them so the ladies can enjoy success.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is committed to ensuring that our people have opportunities to be active.  Having quality sports Clubs such as Clogher Valley RFC to allow everyone the opportunity to play sport and at the highest level contributes to the achievement of this.

On behalf of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and on my own behalf, I congratulate Clogher Valley Rugby Football Club Ladies Team on your Suzanne Fleming Cup success.  You have done yourselves, your family and friends, your Club and your District proud and I wish you continue success for the future.

Thank you.