On a cold crisp spring day the Perennials took on the Cregagh Red socks (Malone for the younger folk) at Gibson Park. A large crowd saw a great game of rugby with the Perennials producing one of the greatest comebacks in their history.
The Perennials also witnessed something for the first time ever – the opposition having a 20 minute warm up, practicing lines-outs, short penalties etc, whilst our guys finished off their warm up drinks in the bar.
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Things looked ominous from the start as a very well drilled Malone side quickly took control, and after some fine running and handling took an early lead. However the Perennials came back into their stride quickly with Michael McAllister selling an outrageous dummy, before crossing the line and scoring under the posts to level the scores.
From a short penalty on our line Malone scored again to edge ahead, but the Perennials finished the first quarter strongly and great play involving Michael McAllister, Davy Elliott and Neil McConkey deserved a try, but ended with a relieving penalty for Malone.
The second quarter started in similar fashion to the first, with Malone increasing their lead with a try from a quick lineout, followed by a further try to open up a lead of 4 tries to 1and the pressure was starting to tell.
The Perennials scored an important try at the end of the quarter to reduce the deficit. A clever kick through from John ‘Rainbow’ Rainey brought play up to 10 meters from the Malone line, from where Don Thompson stole the line-out to dive over, leaving the half time score at 4 tries to 2.
The half time drinks worked wonders as Don Thompson started the second half on fire. A magnificent break created a two-on-one, but alas the supporting Gary Treanor failed to hold the pass, thus a let-off for Malone. The unfortunate Gary then pulled-up with a groin strain and his day was over.
Malone stretched their lead with another try to open up the gap to 5 tries to 2. However once again the Perennials finished the quarter on a high, with Michael McAllister side stepping his way to his second try to bring the score to 5-3, and another strong run from Don Thompson almost narrowed the gap further, before the referee brought the quarter to an end.
The final quarter was all set up for a do and die battle and from the kick off the pack got a great drive going and set up wonderful second phase ball for Michael McAllister to complete his hat-trick. Malone however opened the gap again with another try, to lead 6 tries to 4, with ten minutes remaining.
The Perennials were not finished yet and a great team effort gave the travelling supporters much to cheer about with Don Thompson and Neil McConkey conjuring up two great tries, delivering each other a scoring pass to level the scores at 6 tries a piece. A great comeback was complete.
With minutes remaining and to keep the fans entertained, Michael McAllister showed his “Ronan O’Gara moment” when a rush of blood saw him through a ‘quarter back’ pass along our goal line to our bemused captain. He got away with it – just.
A big thank you to international referee Simon McDowell for stepping up from international duties to referee some real rugby.
Pizzas and a few speeches brought a great day to a close, with the Perennials plaque presented to Malone by our captain Stewart, Porter.
