The Dee entertained PSNI on Saturday at Donaldson Park for a Championship 3 League game. Two changes in the forwards saw Ollie McCormac start in the second row and Nathan Boyd in the back row replacing the unavailable Ryan Butler.

With the heavy rain the previous day the pitch was extremely moist but great work from the groundstaff on Saturday morning allowed the game to go ahead. The Dee started strongly and got the scoreboard ticking over after only 3 minutes when the ball was moved across the backline to Robbie Ingham who ran in for an unconverted try. The PSNI replied almost immediately, their centre beating a couple of Dee defenders to touch down in the corner. The conversion was successful to give PSNI a 7-5 lead. However, the lead did not last long as the Dee made their way into the PSNI 22 and after good drives by Davy Skipp and Nathan Boyd it was Ray Dobson who forced his way over the line to make the score 10-7 to the Dee.

Dobson then doubled his try count as he burst through a couple of tackles and ran in between the posts. Matthew Pentland added the conversion, 17-7.

As the game entered the second quarter the Dee secured the try bonus point try when Ali Lockhart intercepted a pass at the half- way line and was lucky not to get a speeding ticket as he sprinted all the way to score.

At this stage the PSNI were not able to arrest Dee’s momentum and a few minutes later Dee increased their lead with their best try of the day, excellent interplay between Stockton and Dobson allowing the latter to touch down between the posts. This pushed the score to 29-7.

An injury to young Harry McCracken caused a lengthy delay while he was attended to and thankfully was able to leave the field unaided. After the restart the Dee continued to dominate possession and just before halftime Lockhart bagged his second try of the day when he burrowed his way over the line after good work by his forwards. Pentland converted to leave the half time score 36-7 to the Dee.

The expected plethora of tries in the second half did not materialise as the game was evenly contested with most sides creating opportunities. In fact, it was the PSNI who were next to score when their forwards rumbled over from a good driving maul. As the game entered the final quarter the Dee were reduced to 14 when a Dee player was sinbinned for leading with his elbow. Two minutes later both teams lost a man after a kerfuffle off the ball.

The Dee took advantage of the extra space and it was that man Dobson again who finished off a fine passage of play to score his fourth try which Pentland converted. Boyd rounded off a fine personal display by scoring in the final play of the game. Pentland converted again to make the final score 50-12 to the Dee.

A better display from the Dee this week with Ray Dobson the obvious suspect for man of the match. Good attendance at training is a must to ensure the hard work continues in preparation for the Gordon West Cup Final at the Kingspan on 15th March at 2.30pm.

Information regarding bus transport and ticket purchasing for this game can be found on the Club’s social media channels. Next week sees the Dee travelling to Stormont for a league game v Civil Service, k.o. 2.30pm.