Saturday saw the meeting between two of the top 3 teams in the league as 1st place PSNI hosted 3rd place Letterkenny in Antrim.
The home side started the game at 100mph applying pressure to the Letterkenny defence all over the park. On 3 separate occasions they were able to spin the ball wide and make decent ground after giving themselves a great platform through some dominant play in the pack. After a succession of penalties from poor concentration by Letterkenny, the PSNI kicker got on the scoreboard with his 3rd attempt on goal.
He managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over and after the 30min mark, Letterkenny found themselves 9-0 down.
After some words from the coach, Kenny began to get themselves more into the game with some useful kicking through the boot of Andrew Gibson. PSNI began to give away the penalties and Letterkenny finished the stronger of the 2 teams at half time with Tony McBride notching back 3 points on his second attempt at goal.
The second half began the way the first half ended with Letterkenny bossing the play. Shane McArt & Kevin McLaughlin carried well in the pack while Sean Deery and George Grier both made inroads from good back play. Conal Sheridan box kicked well on a number of occasions as well as showing he can snipe around the fringes with 2 excellent breaks. It wasn’t long before PSNI were out on their feet and after McBride missed another penalty at goal, they got the opportunity to kick for the corner. A clean take in the air from Conor Dunleavy lead to good possession for Conal Sheridan and after 3 phases of the forwards battering the line, Sheridan gave a sweet pass out to the wing for Sean Deery to fend off 2 defenders and score. McBride added the conversion and Letterkenny led for the first time in the match 10-9.
After a long break in play for a neck injury to one of the PSNI players, the play resumed on an even keel as both teams battled for superiority in the closing stages of the match. Kenny tried hard to close out the game and keep PSNI pinned back in their own half but for everything they threw at the PSNI, it was returned time and time again. With 3 minutes left on the clock, PSNI were awarded a 5m scrum and staying true to form, the PSNI put massive pressure on in the scrum as they had done all day and pushed to within a metre of the line before their number 8 picked and scored the winning try of the game. The conversion was missed but PSNI led 14-10 with 2 minutes to go.
From the kick off, PSNI played smart rugby and kept it tight before winning a penalty. The referee called time but the PSNI kicker missed his touch and Letterkenny found themselves with 1 more opportunity to attack. Unfortunately a great tap tackle from the PSNI defender caused the ball to be spilled forward and the chance was lost.
Special mention to Conor Dunleavy who played out of his skin.
Letterkenny host Monaghan this Saturday (12TH) at the Glebe in what promises to be another god clash following their 5-5 draw in Monaghan late last year.
