With only Coleraine beneath and languishing in the bowels of Championship 3, both teams were desperate to untangle themselves from the unwelcome grip of the relegation zone.

Report and pictures by Richard Owens

The quality of the expansive pitch in the Stormont Estate should reflect the play but would either team match the landscape.

Holywood’s captain Jordy De’Pledge’s monster boot got us away and immediately forced an error from Service as they failed to cleanly catch the cloud bursting ball. With Service looking jumpy, Holywood pressed from the scrum, testing the defensive line which held until a typical flanker infringement yielded Holywood a penalty which De’Pledge slotted home. 3 – 0 to the visitors after 5 minutes.