In striking parallel to the retiring Adrian Morley over at Salford Red Devils, Swinton Lions said farewell to long-serving Tommy Gallagher in a 94-6 win over South Wales.
Tommy, 32, turned back the clock with four tries, and on completing his hat-trick even knocked over the conversion!
The Dewsbury-born prop forward came out of the Leeds Rhinos academy as a teenager, playing for Hull KR alongside spells with Rochdale, Keighley, London Broncos, and Widnes.
He arrived in Swinton in 2011, contributing five tries in just 13 matches, before a 2012 Leigh move that would see him return to Park Lane for the 2015 season.
He was Swinton’s highest try-scorer on a day that would see the Lions score 28 unanswered points after early Scorpions pressure.
Injury-hit South Wales arrived in Swinton with only 15 fully fit players, and it showed as the Lions took them apart in an embarrassingly one-sided affair.
At half-time the Scorpions had managed 6 points on the board to Swinton’s 38, thanks to Dafydd Hellard crashing over and Ben Jones’s conversion. It made sure this wasn’t a complete whitewash, but in the second half Swinton kicked on to run riot with another 56 points.
Shaun Robinson picked up two tries, as did Aaron Lloyd Mike Butt, sub Mick Govin and the ever reliable Chris Atkin, but the day belonged to Tommy Gallagher as he strode off the pitch with four tries and the sounds of his teammates appaluse ringing in his ears.
John Duffy was pleased with the result, which takes Swinton straight into the playoffs with a home tie as well, as they seek promotion straight back to the Kingstone Press Championship.
Main image by Pete Green
