PSNI 12 – 54 Antrim RFC Going into the game on the back of a 22-13 away win at Holywood last weekend, Antrim faced the task of an away journey to Newforge lane to play PSNI.
After a very physical first half, Antrim opened the floodgates in the second and saw off PSNI with an 8 try demolition overall, to take the points.
With the luxury of a large squad, Antrim were able to rest the Manson brothers and field a competitive team with Paul McAleer being the only other notable absentee through injury.
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In the bright, breezy conditions, it was PSNI who were determined to show their experience and push Antrim onto their 22 metre line from the kick off. However it took Dan Phelps 5 minutes to break the PSNI line and get the ball out the backs to Number 8 Andy Cameron who opened the scoring with a strong run from just inside the PSNI half. Gary Smith converted comfortably in the absence of Richard Manson, just in front of the posts as Antrim took a 7-0 lead.
PSNI pressured Antrim temporarily but again Antrim worked their way to the PSNI tryline with some great offloading and support play but just couldn’t break the defence. With PSNI committing numbers to the ruck on their own 5 metre, Ryan Allen couldn’t believe his luck as he picked up the ball and darted into the gap, without any opposition, to score. Antrim now stretched their lead to 12-0 with Gary Smith missing the conversion.
A highly physical PSNI eventually kicked into gear and for almost 15 minutes capitalised on Antrim’s mistakes and could have punished them further if it had not been for the poor boot of the PSNI outhalf. After Antrim were continually punished for diving in, PSNI missed 2 penalty attempts at the posts. Realising that this tactic was failing them, they opted for touch and from the lineout, the maul drove the Antrim pack back onto their own tryline and touched down to score to narrow Antrims lead to 12-5.
Within 5 minutes, and some deja-vu, PSNI adopted the same strategy and once again touched down in the far corner with the score now at 12-10.
It was up to Antrim to fight for possession and get the ball in hand once again. After some big hits from the restart, Antrim pressured and bullied PSNI. With the ball kicked into Antrim territory, Antrim were able to run it back. The ball cycled through the hands from one wing to the other and back inside for centre Craig McIvor to release the pressure and score between the posts from the PSNI 22 metre. With Gary Smiths conversion the score now stood at 19-10.
Antrim smelled blood and were unfortunate not to score more as everybody raised their game. Debutant prop, Jason Vaughan, came the closest, breaking a few tackles and grubber kicking and dribbling the ball from the half way line only to be denied at the last as Antrim reached the half time mark with a 9 point lead at 19-10.
After the half time break, Antrim came out of the blocks like a team. A PSNI kick deep into Antrim territory was well taken by winger David Thompson under pressure and spread out the Antrim line. Some excellent support play from the pack, lead by Darren Crooks, brought the ball all the way through the hands again and Andy Chestnutt set David Thompson for the PSNI tryline from deep inside the Antim half to touch down between the posts in a great team effort try. Smith converted once again and Antrim had the lead at 26-10.
Antrim had the wind in their sails and dominated possession. Gary Walker was next to get on the scoresheet with another great cycle of the ball allowing him to break the PSNI defence at the halfway line and cruise to the tryline for Gary Smith to comfortably convert at 33-10.
After several minutes of more Antrim domination and some great ball retention from the pack, John Wright powered his way to the line and touched down between the posts as Smith slotted home for Antrim to lead at 40-10.
Antrim didn’t stop there as a shell-shocked PSNI couldn’t cope with the Antrim pressure as players queued up for attack after attack. Within minutes Darren Crooks bulldozed through the PSNI defensive line at halfway and shook off tackles, showing some good pace to touch down between the posts for a seventh Antrim try which Gary Smith converted, further stretching Antrim’s lead to 47-10.
Antrim were on a rout and within minutes flanker Andy Chestnutt, smashed through the battered PSNI barricades and with a series of impressive handoffs, beat the last man and touched down between the posts. Smith converted once again and the referee blew up time 10 minutes early as Antrim cruised to a 54-10 win.
Captain Darren Crooks explained to the boys at the final whistle. “It was a fantastic team performance from number 1 to number 15 as everyone made a massive individual contribution to the team and the scoreline”.
Training resumes on Tuesday and Thursday for 7:30 at Allen Park. All newcomers welcome.
