It was the late, late show as Quins secure victory in the third minute of injury time.
It took a late injury time try by ’Quins Adam Macklin to decide this entertaining Ulster derby. The visitors other tries from came centre Willie Stewart and a penalty try when the Ballymena scrum were under pressure on their own line.
Ballymena were in the lead for the majority of the match and must have thought they were on their way to a home win when they went 14-5 ahead with converted tries from Skipper Paul Pritchard and winger Caolon Fitzpatrick.
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From the kick off ‘Quins stormed out of the blocks and were immediately attacking the ‘Mena 22 area. However, the home side gradually settled their defence and launched counters into their opponents half. Luke Marshall missed a close range penalty after just 7 minutes, but ‘Mena continued to pressurise ‘Quins half and it was only a matter of minutes before they were awarded another penalty. This time they opted to kick for the corner, which paid dividend when from the resultant lineout Pritchard powered his way over close to the posts on 13 minutes. Marshall added the conversion. 7-0 to ‘Mena.
By this stage Stuart Olding had been inserted into ‘Quins side and their first try came eight minutes later after some good passing between forwards and backs allowing Stewart to crash over in the corner. Ian Porter missed a difficult touchline conversion attempt.
The only other scoring opportunity of the first half was when ‘Quins were awarded a penalty in the ‘Mena half, but Porter’s attempt at goal was wide. The score at the interval was 7-5 to Ballymena.
The first twenty minutes of the second half was Ballymena’s purple patch. Marshall had the chance to extend his sides lead from a penalty after a late ’Quins tackle, but his kick just drifted wide. However, a few minutes later the ‘Mena backline showed its pace when a scrambling ‘Quins defence were unable to stop Fitzpatrick from storming over the white wash on 48 minutes. Marshall easily slotted the conversion. 14-5 to ‘Mena.
‘Quins supporters may have been forgiven for sweating a little at this stage, but not to fear, enter the full force of the ‘Quins pack. The visitors were back in the home sides 22 and after a series of lineouts and drives they were awarded a scrum after the ball was held up close to the line. It only took one scrum for the ‘Mena pack to be shoved over their line and the referee didn’t hesitate to award a penalty try on 57 minutes after a ‘Mena infringement was spotted in the retreating confusion. Porter easily added the conversion.
‘Mena were awarded a penalty at the restart, but again Marshall missed what looked like a certain additional three points for his side. However, with just ten minutes of ordinary time remaining he seized a second opportunity from a similar position to nudge the home side to a five point lead.
‘Quins heads were still firmly up and the persisted in getting themselves back into scoring range. A penalty was awarded with only a few minutes (+injury) remaining on the clock. They kicked to the corner and from the lineout they drove to the ‘Mena line, but stout defence denied them a touchdown. Now in injury time another penalty was awarded to ‘Quins along with a yellow card for Darrell O’Kane. Once again the ball was kicked into the corner for a catch and drive from the line out. This time the ‘Quins pack weren’t to be denied and the powerhouse prop Macklin forced his way over the ‘Mena line. Porter made good with a tricky conversion to leave the score line 17-19 in ‘Quins favour when the referee finally blew his whistle a short time later.
There were several candidates for the Starman in this match; anyone of the front row players, Stuart Olding at Outhalf, but for his pure physical presence and the yards he gained from the back for the scrum and in open play, the Starman is awarded to the gigantic Neil McComb.
It’s all in our own hands now, still four points clear at the top of UBL 1B with two games to play, UCD (home, 14th April) and UL Bohs (away, 21st April). Not easy by any means!
Starman: Neil McComb
Belfast Harlequins: Lutton, Annett, Macklin, Rourke, Annett, Rea, Babe, McComb, Porter, Kettyle, Holmes, Stewart, Creighton, Creighton, McGlaughlin.
Replacements: Scott, Fraser, Heatlie, Kururangi, Olding.
Ballymena: Warwick, Andrews, Shawe, O’Kane, Whann, Mulholland, Pritchard, Hackney, Vance, Marshall, Fraser, Irwin, Smyth, Fitzpatrick, Andrews.
Replacements: Carey, Taggart, Smith, McKay, Aingworth.
