Magnificent first win for the U16's

Ophir U16s travelled to Larne RFC to play their first game of 2016 on Saturday 2nd January. With a few regulars missing from the side that lost to Larne earlier in the season by 12 points, this was a good opportunity to test the strength of the U16 squad, and they didn't disappoint.

Although the rain held off during the game, the previous heavy rainfall meant the pitch was heavy underfoot but this didn't deter either side in playing some good attacking rugby.
After some early exchanges and committed tackling from both sides Ophir managed a turn over on half way and some powerful running from forwards James Keenan, Patrick Haughey and captain Luke Smith along with slick handling from the Ophir back line in difficult conditions enabled Michael Kane to break down the left wing. Unfortunately with the try line beckoning and pressure from the Larne defence the ball was fumbled over the line however from the resulting clearance from Larne, Ophir gathered the ball and scored on the right wing.

This set the tone for the rest of the game with Ophir defence holding Larne at bay for the majority of the game, however with ball in hand the Ophir forwards, led predominantly by captain Luke Smith smashed through the Larne defence to gain valuable metres and create plenty of space for the Ophir back line, marshalled well by the half back pairing of Liam Reid and Ronan Sands, to create chances at will for the speedy back three of Paddy Ross, Liam Cosgrove and Michael Kane who made up for his previous missed opportunity by scoring 2 tries and kicking 5 out of 5 conversions.

Given the difficult playing conditions both sides still managed to produce some great rugby.

Final score: Larne RFC 5 - 35 Ophir RFC

Teamlist:
J Keenan, P Haughey, F Thompson, L Smith (c), S McGrath, J Conway, L Reid, R Sands, M Kane, D Delargey, A Youll, P Ross, L Cosgrove, C McCann

Ophir U16s and U18s welcome Ballyshannon to Magowan Park on Saturday 9th January.

Match Report by Gareth Anderson