Ophir 1st XV sponsored by Ballyvesey Recycling Solutions kept their promotion hopes alive with a hard fought victory at a sunny Stormont on Saturday.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ACTION SHOTS
Ophir found themselves 7-0 down with only 30 seconds on the clock after poor reception of the kick off ball. The ball bounced kindly into a Civil Service players hands, was fed to their wing forward who burst through a weak tackle to score under the posts. The conversion was dispatched with ease.
Ophir then dominated territory and possession for the next 25 minutes but a series of unforced errors construed to ruin several scoring opportunities. However Ophir soon got on the scoresheet when prop forward Chris Magee stormed over form a neat Karl Davis pass down the blind side. The conversion was missed but it was game on.
The half time whistle heralded an almighty rain shower.
To be continued……….
Ophir 5 vs 59 Holywood 2
OPHIR WIPE OUT
Saturated pitches at Ophir’s home ground at the Cottonmount, and also at the Valley Leisure Centre, forced last Saturday’s Minor League home fixture for the Second XV to be played at Kerr Park, Holywood. And Holywood Seconds took full advantage.
Ophir, supported by MCW Properties, kicked off but were immediately under pressure from the fast running Holywood backs, the Ophir defence made the fateful error of allowing the opposition time to run, not closing them down and making the tackle so much more difficult. Three minutes into the game and Holywood chalked up their first try of the afternoon, taking possession from a line out on Ophir’s 22 and sweeping the ball across the backs to cross the line with ease. The conversion was good and that was the opening of the floodgates. Ophir were briefly back into Holywood territory, but only by way of the restart, and Holywood immediately charged back upfield. Their tall out half burst through several feeble tackles and fed his right wing to score in the corner. The conversion was missed. Ophir briefly shone when scrum half Alan Davidson took a short penalty on the Holywood 10 metre line but his charging run found little support from his forwards and the move broke down. From the ensuing scrum, Holywood took the ball upfield and after recycling possession 5 times, broke through the middle of the Ophir defence to score under the posts. The Ophir cause was not helped by the fact that the last tackle literally pulled the Holywood scorer over the line. The conversion put them 19 points in the lead. Ophir managed a mini come back and tested the Holywood defence with some very good individual runs, particularly from second row, John Condell and centre Chris Phillips. But as before, these fine efforts went unsupported and led either to penalties for holding on to the ball too long or turnovers.
Unfortunately for Ophir, the second half became a rout. Holywood enjoyed about 80% possession and took full advantage. Scoring almost immediately from the kick off set the pattern for the remainder of the game. That is, apart from the 55th minute when Ophir’s centre, Chris Phillips made a typical charging run, this time closely supported by the pack, and was bundled over the line in the corner for Ophir’s sole try. With the score standing at 52 – 5, and just over 5 minutes of the match remaining, the referee offered Ophir the option of finishing early. To their credit, Ophir refused, kicked off to the waiting Holywood forwards, and could only watch as the opposition scythed through to put the final nail in the proverbial, When the ref blew, it was 59 – 5.
Ballyclare 12 vs 36 Ophir
Cup Saturday and drawn against Ballyclare
This was to be the third time this season the two teams have met with honours even until today.
In the changing rooms Coach reminded the team of the previous two games and that we allowed them to come back into the games and one to eventually win. This was not to happen today.
Mentally prepared we took to the field for a warm up going over key points in our game that we knew we had to use to get on top of our opponents.
Right from the first whistle the Ophir team went in search of points and within 5 minutes had secured a try. The game then took on that of to and fro with neither side gaining a strong hold of possession although most of this took place in the Ballyclare half. Then, with a neat move combining both forwards and backs a hole was found in their defence and we scored another try that was coverted.
Half time: Ballyclare 0:Ophir 12
Changes were made at half time to allow all players to have a game but unfortunately some had to play out of position. Initially it seemed to have worked as the fresh legs were still “doing the business ” with four more tries, two of which were converted but due to some sloppy tackling we allowed Ballyclare to pull two tries and a conversion back. With tiredness and some playing unfamiliar roles it led to a shaky last few minutes.
Over the whole game Ophir were the stronger side and much deserved the result.
Well done and a good game was had by all.
Final score: Ballyclare 12: Ophir 36
