13 man Ophir push Holywood close

Missing James Milligan, Gerard Crawford and Will Lucas through injury the team faced an uphill battle against a very sound Holywood team. The hill became a mountain when Ophir’s out half, Ron Bell had to leave the field in the first minute with a rib injury after a heavy tackle. With no subs allowed, Holywood looked good for an easy victory. But it wasn’t as easy as they might have thought.

Despite an early penalty miss, the Holywood backs looked supremely confident, taking time on the ball and probing the Ophir defence with sharp running. In the 10th minute, the ball was swept to Holywood winger, David Perry who took on the defence with a jinking 40 metre sprint to score in the corner. The conversion missed the posts. For the next 20 minutes it was a game of Ophir defence struggling to keep the home team at bay. Then Ophir seemed to realise they were well in the match and with excellent ball retention took play to the Holywood 22. Karl Davis led the way with a typical storming run and from recycled possession lock, Neil Gray was driven over in the corner, much to the delight of dad Wilbur on the touchline. David Walker converted brilliantly and the visitors were amazingly in the lead. But it didn’t last long. Holywood came right back and a missed tackle in midfield saw their inside centre cut through for a fine try under the posts. This was converted comfortably and before half time, Holywood could have added to their score when, with the line at their mercy, a dropped ball was deemed by the referee to have been knocked on; a decision hotly disputed by the home team. To rub salt in the wound the ref awarded a penalty to Ophir for dissent, and the danger was cleared.

Ophir started the second half well, taking the game to Holywood and dominating territory. David Walker calmly stroked a penalty between the posts, to cut the deficit to 12 – 10. Then came a further blow to Ophir – hooker Ross Nelson had to be carried off the pitch with what transpired to be a broken bone in his ankle. Down to 13 men Ophir were really up against a wall and Holywood showed why with another excellent try from their winger. At 19 – 10, it looked like the floodgates might open but instead and quite outstandingly, Ophir hit back. Realising that the uncontested scrums were to their advantage and cutting down dramatically on turnovers, the visitors drove themselves to the Holywood line where once again Neil Gray broke from a ruck and crashed over in the corner for an inspirational try. Walker narrowly missed the conversion but Ophir were playing with supreme confidence. On the 20th minute of the half, scrum half Karl Davis once again broke clear from the Holywood defence and took on a 60 metre sprint to touch down. David Walker’s conversion attempt bounced off the crossbar, but incredibly, Ophir led by a single point, 19 – 20. This was turning out to be a magnificent Ophir performance and the Holywood support were anxiously urging their team on, to avoid an embarrassing defeat. To their immense relief, with 5 minutes to go, a penalty was awarded against Ophir for joining a ruck from the side. The 3 points were enough to put Holywood back into a narrow lead but Ophir were not yet finished and the final stages of the game were a thoroughly entertaining mix of midfield struggle for a decisive breakthrough. But it was Holywood who prevailed – seemingly in about the 50th minute of the half, their centre lashed out a boot from a stray Ophir pass. Caught flat footed, the Ophir defence scrambled back in an attempt to cover the break, but the Holywood centre won the race to score a try that was easily converted.
The final score, Holywood 29, Ophir 20.