Ophir Win after a few scares

Ophir Win after a few scares

On Saturday the 10th of March, hailed as the day Ireland clinched the six nations title away from England. It was also the day that the Ophir men took on Limavady and Nigel Murray finally conquered his white line fear to score his first of the season

Last time these teams met this season, marked the debut of Dwayne Quiolele who scored 3 tries in a man of the match performance with the Ophi men coming out on top and the boys from Limavady would surely feel an appetite for revenge.

Ophir travelled with coach Ricky Press in disguise as his brother Bobby. His inspirational speech on the bus got the men ready for the game.

Ophir received the kick off and the Ophir men took the fight to Limavady with high intensity and aggression allowed both forwards and backs to dominate their opposite numbers. Loughlain McKenzie who was making his Ophir debut along with Ben Lowry, dictated the flow of the game. Big ball carries by Chris Phillips, Matt Campbell and Jonny Gray allowed Ben to release Dwayne and Alan Davison to slice their backline time after time. After all this pressure Adam Aitcheson received a long pass to go over in the corner.

With the high intensity displayed by the Ophir men, it also had it's downfalls such as going missing in defence or some forwards being left behind due to being tired. This allowed Limavady to get back into the game through a try of their own.

This did nothing but fire up the Ophir men once more, as they launch a barrage of attacks that ended up with someone crossing the whitewash to score. Lochlain McKenzie who was everywhere throughout the game, Nigel Murray who finally got his 1st score this season and Chris Phillips scored, to always keep the distance between them and Limavady a suitable one.

As the Ophir men tired at the intensity they tried to maintain, again Limavady mustered a few scores. With some lacklustre defending and il discipline cost them ground and eventually points. Limavady were within 4 points of a victory going into the last 5 minutes. Jonny Gray after some great pick and drives scored in the corner and restored Ophir's cushion.

Final Score Limavady 24 - 33 Ophir

Man of the Match - Chris Phillips