Larne Produce great display against Ophir
by Stephen Johnston
Larne travelled to Ophir to take on their 2nds on Saturday 28th September and returned victorious with a 43-10 win.
Injuries and unavailability of the regular 3rds players meant that an untested squad faced off against Ophir. Any doubts as to how they would gel together were quashed straight from the kick off as I. McAuley recovered the ball and powered his way towards the line before handing off to M. Gilbert to smash his way over in the first minute.
Larne continued to dominate from the restart making their way back into the Ophir half through the power of the forwards and neat footwork and passing of the back line.
It wasn’t long before the backs took a leaf out of the forwards book with winger G. Gaw smashing his way through the Ophir line to score in the corner followed soon after by S. McAllister’s deceptive feet leaving the Ophir fullback stranded as he scored under the posts.
A stalwart Larne defence held out any attempt by Ophir to reach the try line, who in the end resorted to kicking a penalty in front of the posts to get their first points.
Two changes in the second half saw J. Hall and R. Jones take to the field to provide some fresh legs to a Larne team determined to score more tries, however, a rejuvenated Ophir pack repeated hammered the Larne defence and eventually drove over for their first try of the game. This only bolstered the Larne resolve and some fantastic support play between G. Rennix and J. Hall saw them run from their own 22, up the wing with Rennix scoring under the posts. Larne’s penultimate try came from S. McDowell, who forced his way over from a penalty 5 metres from the line. This was followed soon after with another, Larne mauling a 5 man lineout from 15 metres out in a display of sheer determination and strength with the points deservedly going to I. McAuley. Outhalf C. Aston and center J. Hall shared the kicking duties and between them slotted 4 of 7 conversions between the sticks.
A fantastic performance by every Larne player and a well deserved result.
Line-up: J. Butler, B. Meikle (c), M. Gilbert, R. Lough, J. Thompson, S. McDowell, I. McAuley, R. Williamson, A. Darragh, C. Aston, G. Gaw, S. McAllister, G. Rennix, G. Jameson, P. Dallas, R. Jones, J. Hall
