Ophir vs Queen's

On Saturday the 24th of March the Ophir men returned home to face Queens after a tiring defeat against Cooke mid week. This was a highly anticipated game for the club, after an agonising last minute defeat against Queen's last time out.

As the team lined out, some familiar names were missing from the team sheet as Alan Davison, Ben Lowry, Josh Collins and Mark Broadhurst were all missing, Mark himself out for the remainder of the season with injury.

Coach Ricky Press stepped into an unfamiliar role at scrum half and very much resembled a certain Welsh mountain by the name of Mike Phillips, Ricky responded after being asked about this was "Il take that, but he needs more fake tan."

Andrew Youll and Reece Kennedy started the game after having a big impact at such short notice during the Cooke game mid week, This would go on to see both players continue that impact against Queens.

The game started off with Ophir receiving the kick off and the message of the day was, keep it tight and keep possession. This is exactly what happened with the forwards taking a dominant position, moving up the field with every pass, pick and drive. Sooner rather than later Ophir found themselves with a penalty just short of the 5 metre line. Captain Chris Phillips made a questionable call for the lineout which was stolen by Queens and cleared. This proved to be a vital mistake as not long after this Queens crossed for the 1st try of the day.

This did nothing but spur the men into life with Jonny Gray who over recent weeks has been our Paul O'Connell the unsung hero, took advantage of the weak defence displayed by Queen's to crash over the line from 5 metres out to get Ophir on the score board. This was not just a one off as Andy Youll, Reece Kennedy got on the score sheet.

Daniel McNeil who has been on fire over the last few months, took his tally to 4 for the season as he continued to carry with momentum to score from close range, the 2nd however was assisted by Reece who nearly got it over the line before Danny picked it up before the referee called blew the whistle and touched it down.

Duwein Quiolele was back to his best in attack as he continued to forge a great partnership with Jamie Mawhinney and Oliver Browne to open the Queen's defence. Duwein scored close to the post to bring the race to top scorer down to the last 2 matches of the season (Duwein 12 - 14 Chris).

Ophir's defence had been an ever improving part of the game this season and apart from the minor blip at the start of the game, Queen's never looked like scoring and everyone played their part in keeping them quiet. Notable mentions go to Matt Campbell, Duwein, Nigel , Jamie and Oliver in leading the line from the front.

A few injuries picked up during the match;

Matt Campbell - Concussion (Out for the season)
Chris Phillips - Knee (Unknown)
Jamie Mawhinney - When is he not injured (few days)

Final Score Ophir 34 - 7 Queen's

MotM - Ricky Press, playing out of position but always dangerous with ball in hands allowed both backs and forwards time to get set and provided a good platform for attacking.