AN intriguing showdown at home to leaders Seapoint awaits for Skerries next Saturday as Ben Gissing's men attempt to drag themselves clear of the relegation zone in Leinster's Division 1A. A couple of weeks ago such a game would have looked like an away banker, but the Holmpatrick outfit are belatedly showing signs of coming good under their new coach.

In their most recent league outing they finished strongly to rack up a 31-11 victory at Monkstown and drag themselves off the foot of the table, and last Friday they carried that form into a friendly match against Terenure, winning 26-8. Now at the half-way point in the league campaign, the outcome against Seapoint will go a long way towards determining what direction Skerries' season will take. Defeat would almost certainly consign them to a battle against the drop, but victory would give the former AIL club a real chance of a topfour finish.

'You can tell by our results that it's been a disappointing year so far,' admitted club captain Derek Keane this week, 'but I think we'll come good in the second series and I'd be confident against Seapoint. 'They beat us down there in the first game but said it was the toughest game they'd had and they'll not be expecting it too easy.

'We have a bit of information on them and know they like to maul it a lot off the lineout. They're a very good forward-orientated team, and with the weather being so bad it's going to be a 10-man game no matter what. It's not going to be pretty!'

Struggling in the bottom half of the table in Leinster is new territory for Skerries, who were expected to make a better fist of it this year under Gissing, but Keane pointed out that the margins between success and failure are so thin.

'If you look at the games we lost, Boyne beat us by a point and Cill Dara by two. The worst performance was against Dundalk when we lost by 25 and I wasn't playing in that game myself, and the only other game we deserved to lose was the Tullamore one.

'We like to run the ball a bit more than Seapoint, but that's worked against us so far,' added the skipper, referring to the 142 points conceded in seven games.

'It takes a lot of time to get accustomed to a new coach. Ben has his own ideas and is trying to gell us for the future – not just this year but the next one.

'I'm working hard with Ben and Gerry McCleery to get things right, and the turning point in the season was putting 31 points on Monkstown. 'We were upset with ourselves for losing games, but this time we stuck to our gameplan and played brilliantly.

'Beating Terenure as well has given us a bit of confidence and I can't wait for Seapoint. I have a good feeling about the game.' The message from Ke a n e, now fully recovered from a cruciate ligament injury that saw him missing much of last year, is that Skerries still have everything to play for this season. 'We aren't going to get up on top of the table, but the important thing is to stay out of the bottom two and I would like to think we c a n achieve a third-place finish. 'It's tough for the club because they are trying to put a new pitch together as well, but the supporters are still with us and hopefully we can give them something to shout about next weekend.'

Keane revealed that he will move from the centre to wing, where he previously played most of his AIL rugby with Clontarf, but as early as Sunday afternoon there was already doubt about whether Holmpatrick will be able to host Seapoint next Saturday at 4pm.

'At the moment you are up to your ankles in water and I don't know whether it will be played in Skerries – maybe Balbriggan,' the captain predicted.