Backpacks, Beatles Songs . . . and Burkey’s Boot!

ducks lined up
By BatQuin
February 9 2004

It was a cold afternoon at the Stoop. Mad Max appeared to be speaking English which must have pleased his detractors, and he welcomed all those ‘Day Trippers’ to the Stoop. So, that was £1 from Kwin for the BPA already.

Right, onto the match. Those of you who require a blow-by-blow technical account of the game may as well look away now, because that's not what you're going to get! Right, off we go. Good start for Quins with a penalty awarded. I'd love to be able to tell you why, but my view was obscured by a stream of late arrivals needing to get past me to their seats. On about the 2 minute mark though, Paul Burke put 3 points on the board for Quins.

Sarries get the ball and are pushing forward, only to have their player tackled by Will G, but he didn't manage to get the ball, so on they go. Apparently I have to mention Jase's elegance and poise (thanks to Nigel who sits behind me for that!). Line out to Sarries which is collected by Taine Randell but due to a poor pass this is followed by a pile of bodies on the floor . Taine knocked on but Mr Maybank didn't give it, however, Quins get the ball back, but not for long (again, I can't help you with why or how Sarries regained possession for the usual reason!)

Bemand gets it away (Andy Hancock)

Saracens' next attack was stopped by a marvellous tackle from Captain Fantastic (swoon!) but not for long. Despite some good defence by Quins, Sarries were driving forward and were rewarded with a try by their no. 3 Ben Broster. The conversion made it 7-3 to Sarries.

Some more good work by Quins saw Duffy charging forward, passing to Harder, to Burke, to Jones, to Shaggy . . . and a penalty to Quins. Fantastic kicking by Burkey makes the score 6-7. Now that's much better.

Action on the opposite side of the pitch meant it was even less likely than usual that I'd be able to work out what was going on, but the referee definitely got taken out and was rolling around on the floor to the delight of those around me. Having paid too much attention to the Quins' subs warming up, I went back to watching the match to find that Sarries had a lineout which Vossie leapt up to intercept. Would you believe that the supporters (?!) are STILL getting to their seats? Andy Reay and his companions had finally found spare seats they liked too, and had settled down in front of squad mate Jason O-U.

About 25 minutes gone and Andre leaves the field to be replaced by Ace. Obviously the match reporter was traumatised by this and was vowing never to write one again, as this happened to him when I did the Wildcard game :o( Jim Evans was replaced by Roy 'nice new hairdo' Winters.

Back to the game. The touch judge on the far side is awake and flags to indicate that Sarries have put the ball into touch. Quins win their lineout and push forward with a thing of beauty. The referee noticed an infringement and Quins got a scrum. A lineout throw by Quins which was caught beautifully by Dippy was deemed not straight and so Sarries got a scrum. Not straight? PAH!

Hurrah! Andre's back on. Only a blood injury apparently. Who said he was limping? Sarries have the ball but are treading water with Quins holding them back, until the referee penalises us - probably for holding on. At this point Will G and George H swap places with Rob Jewell and Andy Dunne. There's about 30 minutes gone in the first half and Mad Max is collecting money for the BPA in his backpack and getting in the way. Tut tut! 

Fool on the Hill (Robshew)

Now Quins have another penalty. Burkey lines up the ball; Jason O-U adopts the praying position and . . . the ball sails between the posts for another 3 points. Score is 9-7.

Now as it's nearly half time, the steady stream of supporters now starts to go down the stairs, obscuring any view I might have. Sarries' lineout was deemed not straight and Quins had a scrum. Will G came back on, with a Vos-style head band, and a couple of minutes later George H came back too. 

Blood Brothers (Robshew)

Max mentioned what a 'Hard Day's Night' they were having. That'll be £2 to him then. Quins pushed forward again with some good passing. Sarries managed to regain possession following a Quins scrum and kicked to touch. Quins won their lineout and Vossie charged forward. Suddenly the whistle blows and the ref brings play back due to an infringement by Saracens. When BQ asked Binky 'why?', he responded 'Because he's Maybank'. So, now you know!

Paul Burke's penalty kick made the score 12-7 to Quins at Half Time.

During the half-time police dog display, Max managed an '8 Days a Week', a 'Penny Lane' and two more 'Day Trippers'.

The second half saw Johnson replaced by Bailey for Saracens and Max talking about the 'Long and Winding Road', 'Come Together' and 'Hard Day's Night' - again!

Push, shove, push, shove (see, I told you you weren't going to get 'technical') and off Saracens go again. Shouts of 'crossing' come from behind me, but it's not given. Quins get a scrum but the whole thing collapses. Ben Roster is replaced by Bergamaschi for Sarries. Sarries get close to the try line, but Quins put in some big tackles to keep them out. Phew! Dippy hoofs the ball downfield which is picked up by Saracens who go forward. Their players gets well and truly tackled and the ball is picked up by Gavin Duffy who goes darting through the middle and passes to Tani. Burkey got hold of the ball, but in a moment's indecision got clattered by Hill. Burkey was down for a long, long time and the paramedics came on to attend to him. He left the field on a stretcher which was not good. Andy Dunne came on as a replacement.

Quins pushed forward with Greenwood and Harder but were penalised for holding on. Obviously a mistake. Bracken was replaced by Morgan Williams. Sarries' kick is picked up by Duffy, who kicks for touch. The ball hits a Sarries player on its way out, so lineout to Quins. Tani takes a quick throw and Quins go forward with Pat S who passes to Dippy, who chips but it's picked up by Sarries who kick to touch. Tani's attempted interception didn't work and a scrum to Sarries. Sarries go steaming forward only to run into Simon Keogh - literally. Simon nearly plants the guy head first into the pitch! Jason & Ceri were replaced by Dawson and Worsley

Dawson shapes up for a hard tackle... (Andy Hancock)

More to-ing and fro-ing and then Vos goes off for good to be replaced by Ace. Momentary (HA) lapse of concentration due to inconsolable grief of match reporter. Sarries are now pushing forward again and it's getting exciting so I stop writing and start shouting.

Harder shapes up to tackle Haughton (Andy Hancock)

 I do know that Max auctioned half a cheese & pickle sandwich for the BPA! Not sure if he got any takers though!

Saracens get a penalty (ref's obviously not paying attention either) and so the score is now 12-10 on about 80 minutes. Yandell and Skirving go off for Sarries to be replaced by Chesney and Russell. Sarries collapse the maul and Quins get the ball, only for Dippy to be pulled down and for Saracens to regain possession. Sarries make a crap kick to touch (well, they make about 3 in fact) and Mel Deane tries to push through their defence. It was getting interesting again and the rain was making the page soggy, so I couldn't write down what was happening!

At that point I commented to my neighbours that the ref was 'being a twit'. Two little boys were walking down the steps at that point. 'That's my Dad' said the elder one. Ooops! 'Ah', I replied 'excellent . . .'. The younger one, probably guessing that he should now disassociate himself from his pal turned and said 'But he's not my Dad you know, he's not'.

At about that moment, Dippy was announced as MOTM, the attendance given at 8,170 and the final whistle blown. So, perhaps not the most exhilarating of matches, but 4 points to Quins.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Right, now my favourite bit - the press conference. A mere mortal's chance to rub shoulders with the literary genius that is the press. Sarcastic? Moi?

Sarries are on first. In comes Rod Kafer who, in my opinion, came over as a nice enough chap.

Was he disappointed with the team's performance?

"I thought we performed well. We played some good rugby and looked after the ball well. We played one of our better games and it was disappointing to come away with only a point."

What would you have needed to turn that into a win? [Now surely the obvious answer to that question is 'more points'???]

"We lacked confidence. We got excited close to the try line and forced play. We are not used to close games. We have to work hard on our composure."

There followed some questions on selection issues. Kafer said that Nicky Little had not been available to play and so Taine Randell had played (that pleased Kiwi Di and Ann who sit near me!). When asked about kicking for goal, Kafer pointed out that they didn't have a penalty to kick to goal.

Did Kafer think that there was no cutting edge at the set piece?

"I thought we made quite a few long range breaks. Composure is the problem. I am not at all worried about the backs. They will improve. Quins' defence was excellent. They played according to the way the game was being refereed."

Quins defence engulfs Taine Randall (Andy Hancock)

On the subject of injuries, Ben Johnson had an injury to his back, Roster had an elbow problem and Kyran Bracken was just a straight swap. They did not have a fully fit fly half. "Thomas is only 90% fit which was why he was not kicking for goal and only kicking sideways for touch." [Tee hee] "Kevin Sorrell is second choice [kicker] and if Thomas is fit I would have him in my starting 15."

"I am not worried, but games are always won by the team which performs best on the day. We performed well but didn't get the points."

It's freezing in the Press (Ice) Box so I hope Evs and Scotty hurry up . . . . .

First question is obviously about Burkey.

"He's gone to hospital with a neck/shoulder injury. He has full movement in his limbs and no loss of function."

How much of a worry was that injury? [Is it me, or is that a daft question?]

"Obviously you always worry when a member of your team goes off the pitch on a stretcher so yes, I was worried. In terms of rugby, Dunne has played a lot of games and has started a lot of games, so that is not a particular issue."

And Paul Burke had done his usual job . . .

"He's not a bad goal-kicker is he? [HA HA] We didn't have any penalties in their half in the second half, and Andy Dunne actually has higher % than Burke this year."

We definitely didn't play well in the first half. They played switch plays that we were slow to recognise. We were stretched. In the second half we got much better. Ball retention was good. Dippy turned the ball over under our own sticks and Richard Hill made a break. They were the only times we were under pressure during the second half.

You look like a team which can win games in the last 15 minutes . . .

"We have a strong bench. We can bring on Mike Worsley, John Dawson, Ace (Roy). We play a 5-2 bench most weeks. We've got flexibility with players like Ace & Simon Keogh. We have ammunition to put on in the last third. That partly accounted for it and we played the last half in the right end of the pitch. Our finishing was not as good as we would have liked - a bit disappointing . . . it won't be one of our red-letter days of the season, but we won and we're now 6th.

Was their conversion over?

"I wasn't watching. It's just one of those things. You get bad calls. Although if we'd lost 13-12 I wouldn't have been quite so sanguine . . ."

So, is it sweet to beat Sarries?

"We're all past that now [laughter from the Ice Box] Dippy played well. All the back-row forwards know they have to perform well to hold their places."

And what about Andre . . . [Match reporter wakes up instantly]

"Andre's ankle isn't broken. It could be ligament damage but it's too early to say." [Chatting to Andre back in reception after the match, he said his ankle wouldn't be a problem and he'd be right as rain in a few days - what a hero :o)]

"Jim Evans has a dislocated shoulder, but Simon Miall will be in the 2nd team to play Wasps on 16 February." HURRAH!

A quick word on Ugo, who will be off to the LA 7s by now and that was it really. ME did admit that he wasn't sure what 'injury crisis' Sarries thought they had, but that really wasn't of any consequence.

With that, I was off to the IPA tent for a nice, warming pint!

 
Man of the Match - A job well done (Andy Hancock)