Larne remain on course in defence of Gordon West Cup

The two teams met each other in a Qualifying Three match seven days earlier with Larne getting the upperhand but it was PSNI who made a blistering start in this one.

Even though the hosts expected this, there was little they could do to thwart the assault. Penalty after penalty ensued and Larne were on a team warning having only played five minutes of the match.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to break the deadlock with a well-deserved try.

Larne re-grouped, taking the upper hand at scrums and lineouts to gain some good field position. It paid off when skipper Ryan Garrett put a cross field-kick in to Jordan Burns who rose above his opponent to dot down in the corner. The half time score sat at 5-7.

Early in the second session, Garrett put in another cross-field ball, this time for Montgomery to collect, and put Agnew in to race away from the oncoming defenders and put Larne in front.

PSNI responded with a penalty but good carries from Hunter and McCluggage seemed to lift the Larne side again and it wasn’t long until space started to open up, allowing Hunter and the hard-working Cole to run in late tries.

Larne II were back in action with a 44-22 home win over Grosvenor II. First-half tries came from P. Andrews and C. McKinty. Andrews converted both and kicked a penalty. Second-half tries: S Andrews, P Andrews, G Knox and N. Kelso. Andrews kicked a penalty and two conversions.