Harlequin Amateurs finally get some just rewards.

By Chris Kelly
November 4 2003

Harlequin Amateurs came away victorious after winning 8-27 away to Old Grammarians. On a day that saw us travel half way round the M25 to Enfield with a changed side yet again from our game the previous week against Chess Valley.

The Quins put up a robust and determined effort despite the many squad members on the injury list.

Our game the previous week against Chess Valley who are in top position was, in the first half a closely contested game, it wasn’t till the start of the second half that things really went wrong, the score at half time was 12-6. Within 5 minutes of the second half, Quins lost No 8 Matt Stevens who had only just returned after a long spell on the injury front only to aggravate the same injury again, 10 minutes later saw Matt Cross who had been the main protagonist in keeping the opposition at bay also left the paddock with what has turned out to be damage to his crucial ligaments. A few minutes after that Lock Dave Wells went off with a sprung rib and a fractured wrist, so all in all not a great day. The final result was that we lost 17 –6

The game at Old Grammarians saw Quins put pressure on the forwards right from the off. Kicking off with the slope in our favour it was clear that we had to get points in the first half and after ten minutes of sustained pressure Quins finally crossed the line, Benn Richards scoring, conversion by Ross Webster. Old Grammarians came back by converting a penalty offence, 3-7. From the restart it was Quins again putting on the pressure. Fly half Ross Webster pinned the opposition back into their 22 at every opportunity as did full back Chris Hugall. This constant pressure finally resulting in Quins wining a line out, Old Grammarians were penalised for an infringement and Webster converted. The whistle went for half time, Quins up 3-10
The second half saw Quins kicking up hill now and with good support play by the forwards ensured that the momentum continued, with good lines of running by Rupert Shaw and Kwasi Appah the game was looking for the first time this season to be comfortable and that it was only a matter of time before Quins scored again. This we did as the forwards secured good 4th phase ball for Andy Robinson to run in a good try, Webster failed to convert. Old Grammarians stuck to the task and used the advantage of the slope, this earned them a second penalty as a result of Quins not releasing the ball.
From the restart it was Quins who again struck quickly with good possession by the forwards released the backs for Kwasi Appah to score on the wing.

Quins then exchanged a penalty in the 69th minute and from the Old Grammarians kick off Quins ran in their forth try of the day scored by Brandon Van Der Westerhuizen, again this was not converted.

This, our first league win of the season lifts us off the bottom of the table and will, despite our injury crises, give us hope for the rest of the season. Our last two games have been against the top two teams. We have a stronger squad this season and our results to date have been disappointing, we all know we should have and could have won our first three games. Let’s hope that we have turned the tide and with players returning from injury we should start to see us start to move up the league.