The Dee’s line up showed only one change in the starting fifteen from their previous game with Ryan Butler returning from injury and Carter Long made his first appearance of the season on the bench.

When these teams met in the League encounter earlier in the season it was a thrilling draw so the Dee knew they would have to perform well if they were going to book a place in the final. The morning drizzle had ensured that the previous day’s frost was washed away but the moist conditions were going to be a challenge for both teams.

After the teams had observed a minute’s silence in memory of the Dee’s past Chairman Ken Ross, the Dee kicked off with the elements in their favour. After a tense ten minutes the first opportunity for points fell to Strabane when the Dee were penalised for offside, however, the penalty attempt fell just short of the posts. The Dee defence was tested on several occasions but held firm, with Matthew Stockton keeping the Strabane playmaker under control. A couple of turnovers by Davy Kirkpatrick also relieved the pressure.

Handling errors from both teams caused a plethora of scrums but thankfully the Dee had the upper hand in this area throughout the game. The deadlock was eventually broken on the half hour mark when Rudi Ioasa forced his way over after several drives by the Dee forwards. Matthew Pentland was successful with the difficult conversion to give the Dee a 7-0 lead.

Five minutes later it was Strabane’s turn when they took advantage of a Dee knock-on in their 22 to score in the corner. The conversion was missed to leave the Dee with a 2 point advantage.

On the stroke of half time the Dee found themselves deep inside the Strabane 22 and after several drives it was Nathan Boyd who managed to touchdown. Pentland was successful again with the conversion to give the Dee a 14-5 lead at half time.

The Dee started the second half well and after 5 minutes went further ahead. Sam Ingham made a break before passing to Kirkpatrick. He beat his opposite number and then offloaded to Boyd who forced his way over in the corner. The conversion was missed but the Dee now led 19-5.

At this stage Strabane were looking slightly discombobulated as they were unable to make any headway against the robust Dee defending, with every man making their tackles count. In fact, it was the Dee who crossed the whitewash next after a good spell of pressure. A typical storming run from Ray Dobson and another from Ioasa brought play into the Strabane 22. From the next ruck Pentland decided to pass to Stockton on the blindside and the captain crashed over to score to make it 24-5.

In the last few minutes the Dee won a penalty in front of the posts and Pentland converted to make the final score 27-5 to the Dee. So, the Dee have booked their place in the Final in the Kingspan Stadium on the 15th March which promises to be a great day out for both players and supporters alike.

This was probably Dee’s best performance of the season so far, especially their defence which was excellent throughout. Any one of the players could have been a contender for man of the match. The captain, Matthew Stockton, marshalled his backline superbly and Sam Ingham lead from the front all day. However, the award this week goes to Nathan Boyd for his efforts in defence and attack, including his brace of tries.

Next week it’s back to League action when the Dee welcome Inishowen to Donaldson Park, 2.30 k.o.