Ophir Edged by Lurgan

Ophir First XV, sponsored by Biffa and Magowan Tyres made a short journey along the M1 to visit Pollock Park, home of Lurgan RFC.

With a handful of First XV regulars missing, Ophir took to the field amongst near gale force winds and rain.

Lurgan won the toss and opted to kick-off with the wind at their back, hoping to play the first half in Ophir territory. The first 10 minutes were keenly contested, with Lurgan Scrum Half directing his tight five around the pitch at giving them plenty of opportunities to test the Ophir defensive line close to the rucks.

Lurgan won a penalty around the Ophir 10 metre line and instead going for points, put the ball out for a line out just shy of the Ophir 22 metre line. The Lurgan hooker found his number 5 in the line out, who then proceeded to set up, what Ophir thought, would be a driving maul. The Ophir pack fully committed to trying to halt the maul, but in a pre-called set move, Lurgan dispatched the ball away quickly from the maul to hit their captain and number on a short pass, just outside the right shoulder of his fly half. A missed tackle on the number 8 allowed him a one on one with the Ophir fullback and a strong support line from one of the Lurgan Second Rows gave the number 8 an easy decision, dispatching his tight five team mate with a deft pass to his left side – conversion scored, 7-0 after 15 minutes.

The rest of the half was spent between the Ophir 10 metre line and the Lurgan 22 metre line. Ophir spent large majorities of this portion of the game in possession of the ball, making 2 clear chances that should have been scored, with the final pass eluding Ophir on each occasion.

The first ended a few minutes early as there was a serious facial injury sustained by the Lurgan scrum half in a desperate and successful last ditch tackle to keep his counterpart Karl Davis from crossing the line.

Ophir kicked the second half off with the wind now in their favour, hoping to pin Lurgan in their own territory. The Lurgan fly half handled the conditions well, directing his forwards to take short balls into the Ophir line and then utilising his large-framed inside centre to batter the Ophir defence.

After an infringement at a ruck inside the Ophir 22 metre line, Lurgan opted to take a shot at goal, scoring and leaving it 10-0 to the home side.

Another 10 minutes passed before Ophir again infringed at a ruck, giving the Lurgan fullback a chance to pop the ball into touch around 10 metres out from the Ophir try line. Ophir opted to not contest the maul, attempting to win a penalty for ‘truck and trailer’, however the referee did not see this and the Lurgan maul rolled across the line to score the second and final try of the game, which was unconverted. Final Score 15-0 to the home side.

Ophir host Monaghan next Saturday at Magowan Park, hoping to return the favour to a Monaghan outfit who beat them earlier in the year.

Team list:

Matthew Campbell, John-Joseph Flood, Christopher Phillips, John Henry, Sean O’Hare, Jonathan Murphy, Phillip Adgey, Daniel McNeill

Karl Davis, James Milligan, David Walker, Samuel Harvey, David O’Reilly, Anthony Davis, Alan Davison