Ophir 1st XV vs Lisburn 2's

On Saturday 16th September, the Ophir lads made their way across town to Lisburn to build on the positive performance from last weeks match vs Portadown.

Focused on fielding two teams this week, the 1st's had one substitute going into the match before the dreaded phone calls started coming in. Soon the 1st's were 2 men down from the original team, and were forced to call upon 2nd's captain Michael Doyle to fill the void on the wing.

Reshaping the side did not dampen the spirits of Ophir lads, as match preparations went well and the morale was high in the team. The lads showed some great spirit right from the first whistle, and had the upper hand for the first 10 minutes. Great carries from the forwards and a great focus around the ruck gave Andrew Rushton his first chance at goal, unfortunately it was missed which summed up the rest of the 1st half. Gary Worthington also suffered an injury and was reassessed at half time.

Half Time: Lisburn a few tries - 0 Ophir

2nd half was a test of the Ophir lads mental strength, as Lisburn crossed the line a few more times this half with some good play, particularly a cross field kick that resulted in a canter over the line unchallenged. Ophir was not without their own highlights, as Anthony Davis who played his usual game of smashing everyone in sight, hit a Lisburn player so hard that most of the team cringed at the sound of it. Nice work Anto!!!

Overall, looking at the stats, it seems as if Ophir is the Arsenal of the rugby world. 87.23% possession but were not clinical enough in the red zone.

Man of the match: Anthony Davis

Next week is Bus trip week to Dungannon, anyone interested please speak to Chris Phillips asap.