With captain Matthew Stockton sidelined due to injury Chris Conroy came into the centre to partner Robbie Ingham. In the forwards Davy Skipp and Dylan Robinson started at prop and Nathan Boyd moved into the second row to allow Ryan Butler to return to the back row. The experienced Sam Ingham took over the captain’s duties for the day and elected to play against the strong wind in the first half.

Due to the elements the PSNI enjoyed the majority of possession and territory for the first quarter of the match and the Dee had to concentrate on their defensive qualities to ensure they did not concede a score. The home team did have a couple of chances to go ahead when the Dee were penalised for infringements, however, both attempts at goal were unsuccessful.

Dee gradually built up some momentum and started to make in roads into the PSNI half. In the 25th minute, after several phases of play, the Dee forwards pummelled the try line and eventually it was young Rudi Ioasa who managed the touchdown. The difficult conversion was missed to leave the score 5 -0 to the visitors. Five minutes later the referee’s patience expired and the PSNI were shown 2 yellow cards in quick succession. The Dee were able to capitalise on this numerical advantage and it was Sam Moore who finished off a passage of play to double their lead. The Dee then managed to crucify a number of chances to add to their tally as the first half came to a close.

If the small group of travelling supporters thought the Dee were going take advantage of the elements and annihilate the opposition in the second half they were to be greatly disappointed. The PSNI started brightly and after only 5 minutes reduced the deficit when good offloading allowed them to score in the corner. The difficult kick just made it over the posts to take the score to 10-7. Shortly afterwards the Dee were penalised on their 22 and the kick was successful to bring the scores level. The Dee had to work hard to curtail the PSNI’s new- found belief and it was only excellent defence by the likes of Butler and Moore in the forwards and Robbie Ingham and McCracken in the backline that kept them at bay.

As the game entered the final quarter a fine kick deep inside the 22 saw the fullback bundled into touch. From the resulting lineout Sam Ingham managed to ground the ball over the line to give the Dee a slender lead. The Dee began to take control of the game and 10 minutes later registered their bonus point score when Ioasa scored his second of the day. This time Pentland kicked the conversion to push the score to 22-10. A lack of concentration followed which allowed PSNI to score an unconverted try to narrow the gap to seven points and created a rather unnecessary nervous finish. Thankfully the Dee managed to regroup and after some strong runs by the forwards it was Boyd who forced his way over the line to make the final score 27-15 to the Dee.

Man of the match this week goes to Rudi Ioasa, not only for his brace of tries, but for his overall performance throughout the game.

Next Saturday the Dee host BHSFP at Donaldson Park, k.o. 2.30 pm.