Centransa penned in as Quins sail through

By kwin
December 15 2003

No mistakes this time, as a confident and solid Quins team safely despatched a spirited side from Centransa 63-6 to qualify for the Second Round of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup

The result was never really in doubt, and the presence of 'Bill' could only add to the party atmosphere at a crowded Stoop.  Before the game the trophy was paraded by Will Greenwood, and I heard that the Club photographer took over 3000 pictures of the trophy (the batteries in his camera must last a lot longer than mine

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Ace looking to break (Andy Hancock)

Centransa actually started first and an early penalty put them 3-0 in the lead after only two minutes, much to the jubilation of the travelling fans but, alas, that was the be the only time they'd trouble the scoreboard. To be fair the first quarter was well contested, but after that Quins drew relentlessly ahead scoring in the end no fewer than 11 tries, shared amongst nine players. Disappointingly Andy Dunne - who otherwise played confidently - managed on 4 successful conversions with a kicking display that must have cemented Burkey's hold on the 10 shirt.

 

Dunne (Andy Hancock

Elsewhere we saw promising performances from Keogh at scrum-half, and I expect him to start on Friday for his first ZP experience in that position, and also a welcome return to form from Duffy, who also appeared on the try-sheet.

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Duffy scores (Barquin Mad)

In the scrum Kai Horstmann performed excellently, and perhaps has done enough to give Evs a selection decision - perhaps we'll see him on the bench on Friday. I am sure that his enthusiastic supporter - sorry supporters - will guarantee him man-of-the match on CAW :-)

Kai on the attack (Andy Hancock)

Close Call (Barquin Mad)

After the game, KevT reports from the press conference, Mark Evans felt that the team had played OK in difficult conditions. Centransa had fought well for the first half hour but you often find that in games against opponents who do not play regularly against Premiership standard opponents that the game tends to run away from them.

He highlighted the fact that the younger players such as Chris Bell, Andy Reay and Kai Horstman were challenging for first team places. He felt that Chris Bell had butchered one chance in the first half but that he had taken his other opportunities well. Many people think Chris is older than he is because he made his debut at such a young age. He is very quick but needs to work on his decision making. He also needs to develop his kicking game, but Greenwood had told him that his kicking game had only come on in his mid to late twenties.

Mark said that Simon Keogh had started slowly but got better as the match went on. He said Simon came to Quins as a scrum half who could also play wing but that he has now proved he is a Premier League wing. He would have to see more of Keogh at scrum half to make his mind up on his ability at scrum half, he hadn't made his mind up whether he would use the Sale game to see more of him. Either Ben Willis or Scot Bemand will start for the second XV this week. Mark said he liked the look of the Centransa scrum half.

 

Cetransa UEMC 18 Harlequins 31

I received a number of pics for last weeks match report that we didn't get time to include - so enjoy!

Aldershot travelling Quins' familiar flag (Simon Jones)

You call that a flag? (Simon Jones)

Ace Tiatia refs the game (RLeQuin)

 

Tani Scores (RLeQuin)

On the Break (RLeQuin)