Banbridge Town 1 - PSNI 3

Town were behind as soon as four minutes when JB Dobbin opened the scoring. A second half double from former Glentoran man Peter Steele, one just after the restart and the other in injury time, put the game beyond Town, even though Johnny Kernoghan had thrown them a lifeline, rifling into the net after finding himself free in the box at 2-0 behind.

Town manager Ryan Watson was disappointed with his side’s display but held over special praise for two-goal Steele.

He said: “We didn’t play to the levels that we can. We were looking forward to the game but we didn’t do ourselves justice. PSNI were very strong and their striker, Peter Steele, was head and shoulders above anybody else I’ve seen in the league this season. I’d be very surprised if he was still there at the end of January to be honest.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, conceding after a few minutes. In a big game like that, we wanted to bed ourselves in but conceding so early gave them a boost and knocked us.

“Stephen Cairnduff made some good saves but we had chances as well and were well in the game at 1-0 down at half-time. Then we conceded within a few minutes of the second half starting, which was a real blow. We pulled one back but Steele hit us on the counter-attack as we pushed for the equaliser.

“All in all, the best team won.”