Ophir bow out of Gordon West Cup

Ophir, supported by Biffa and MCW Properties, were to meet their match in a very strong Holywood team, runaway leaders of Qualifying League Section 3 – the section which Ophir hope to and should join next season. It promised to be a close fought duel and at the end it was indeed just one score that separated the two sides.

It was a match that lived up to all the expectations of a Cup game – tight play, the struggle to retain possession, gaining ground by inches not yards and above all the fiercest tackling ever seen at Magowan Park. Ophir had better success than their opponents in the line out but conversely, Holywood made the scrum difficult for Ophir. The defences of both teams dominated all the action and this was reflected in the half time score – a solitary David Walker penalty to Ophir. But ominously, Holywood had narrowly missed two of their own penalty attempts and were always looking dangerous in attack.

At the start of the second half, Ophir survived a massive onslaught from the Holywood pack, and it took a quarter of an hour before the home team could set foot in opposition territory. And then it was once again the stern defence that denied any scoring. Back came Holywood and on the Ophir 22 metre line, suddenly the tiniest chink appeared in the defensive back line. Like a bullet, the Holywood scrum half was through, and over the try line for a decisive 5 points. The conversion was good. Mid way through the half, Ophir were unlucky to lose winger, David O'Reilly, stretchered off with a hamstring injury, to be replaced by Brendan Wade. But still Ophir strove to break down the Holywood barrier – Karl Davis and Kenny Morton coming very close. And yet again Holywood stayed solid and came back with an attempted drop goal which crashed off the crossbar. And that was it – a final score of 7 points to 3 in Holywood’s favour. A thriller of a game where Ophir at least proved that they will be more than capable of competing with the best of the Section 3 if they continue their unbeaten league campaign.