Down seconds could simply not believe they left Palace Barracks in Holywood with just a point.

They literally pulverised their opponents over the 70 minutes of this Junior 4 clash and created enough chances to win two or three games.

From the first minute to the last they were on top, with Mark Elliott in outstanding form at the head of the attack. He caused problems all afternoon, but was denied on a number of occasions by the PSNI 'keeper who was his side's top performer.

Down started brilliantly, with Raymond McClurg, Chris Lennon and Colin Gibson pulling the strings in the middle of the park.

In fact, the trio were all involved in the move which led to the visitors taking the lead in the 10th minute. McClurg and Gibson started a move which led to Lennon firing the ball in at the back post.

The outstanding Elliott continued to cause problems for the home defence, but it was the PSNI who scored the next goal, totally against the run of play.

A Down attack failed to come to anything and, in a moment of madness, the PSNI forward was allowed to work his way into the penalty area to score.

The goal saw the visitors up the tempo and Elliott, Clifford Lennon and brother Johnny all went close, with the latter particularly unfortunate not to score on a number of occasions with his trademark short corner strikes.  One shot which looked destined for the back of the net was brilliantly deflected by the 'keeper whose stick save left Down's skipper holding his head in his hands.

After the break, it was all one-way traffic but no matter how they tried, the visitors could not increase their lead.

Young Richard Tarbotton saw his shot crash past the wrong side of the post and when Clifford Lennon looked to have sealed the points when he popped up at the back post to push the ball over the line, the umpire disallowed the "goal."

Down forced 12 short corners in the second half but could not find a way past the stubborn PSNI 'keeper who certainly earned his appearance money.

At the end, Down's players were left disappointed and frustrated, but must pick themselves up for this weekend's clash against Parkview seconds.