Ophir firsts make it ten on the bounce in the league
by Ron Bell
Last Saturday at the Cottonmount, Mallusk, Ophir First XV, supported by Biffa and MCW Properties, hosted Cavan in the Kukri Qualifying league 4.
This was a crunch match for both teams who occupied the top spots in their Section. Bitterly cold, but dry; the weather offered the best possible chance of a good handling game.
Fiercely competitive from the kick off, Cavan were first to break through the defence and only a knock on stopped the charge. Gradually Ophir clawed their way back down the pitch and full back David Walker was unlucky to miss the first penalty opportunity of the match. Back came Cavan but the Ophir defence was up to the task and began to dominate the set pieces. The pack set up frequent clean possession for the backs, especially Anthony Davis, to challenge the opposition. There were few gaps to be found in the Cavan defence but it was typically scrum half Karl Davis who did. Squirming free from the base of a scrum he made 40 metres before putting a sweet pass in front of winger Stevie Hastings for him to drop over the line in the right corner. And 5 minutes later the Davis – Hastings partnership repeated the performance and with David Walker’s conversion, Ophir led 12 – 0. Cavan had a late opportunity in the half to convert a penalty for offside, but missed the difficult 40 metre kick. And on the stroke of half time Karl Davis went blind side from a ruck, set off on a 20 metre sprint and scored under the posts. Walker’s conversion put Ophir 19 points up at the break.
The home side benefited most from their half time pep talk. Within two minutes of the restart, it was that man Davis again, this time stretching from a tackle to touch down on the line. Then at last, Cavan got the break they deserved – a 45 metre sprint by their lock and a perfect pass to the winger to score. But this only served to inspire Ophir to greater effort, particularly from the 8 forwards who united in a 15 metre drive that allowed lock Neil Gray to drop on the ball over the line.And to cap it all, David Walker landed a penalty in the closing moments to pass a personal points tally of 150 points this season and to leave Ophir winners by 34 points to 5.
Ophir are undefeated this season in all competitions. This was their tenth league win.
Next week, Ophir travel to Virginia.
