Reserves Victory Wins Play-Off Place
By AlanQuin
March 30 2004
Setting out their intentions with two tries by Chris Bell in the first four minutes, the 2nds effectively demolished Bath and won the southern section of the Zurich A League. The final score, 5–31, does not reflect the superiority which Quins established in possession, in the scrum and in invention.
The start was breathless. Bath’s kick-off was gathered in on the Quins 22 metre line and a rolling maul went with considerable momentum to Bath’s 10 metre line where it was pulled down giving Quins a penalty. From the resulting line-out the forwards again rolled on towards the Bath line and the ball was passed out to Bell who scored. Matt Moore’s conversion attempt hit the post but Quins led 0 – 5.
There was no time to catch ones breath as almost from the restart a fine break from Bemand found Bell in support on his right and he was across the line almost before Bath could defend the line. Matt Moore, revealing a powerful and quite accurate kicking style added the points and after four minutes, Quins were 12 points in the lead. The mystery is how they failed to add to that lead before half-time.
Bath had their opportunities to score. In the sixth minute only a fine try-saving tackle by Matt Moore kept them out. Thereafter errors in handling proved fatal to their attacks. Bath had a penalty as the first quarter drew to an end only for their kicker to find that they had forgotten the kicking tee! A drive by the Bath forwards was held up on or over the line and they had a penalty followed by a line-out only five metres from Quins’ line. Once again they started to drive for the line but a knock-on aborted their attack.
But now the superiority of the Quins forwards at the scrum began to tell. They won three scrums against the head as the Bath pack began to crumble. But unforced errors continued to cause attacks by both teams to break down. As half-time approached, Moore missed with an ambitious penalty kick from fully 40 metres.
The second half started in almost the same style as the first half. An attack from the restart saw Quins awarded a penalty. A good kick to the corner was followed by a line-out and another powerful drive by the forwards in which James Hayter was driven over to score. Moore’s conversion kick narrowly missed. 0 – 17.
A few minutes later, they attempted to repeat the same scenario, but a poor throw at the line-out allowed Bath to clear and they then gained a penalty for not releasing in the tackle. But after almost 15 minutes, another good scrum allowed the ball to come to Moore who crossed to score under the posts and to convert his own try and Quins had the bonus point which ensured the southern section was won. 0 – 24.
Now the replacements began to arrive. For Bath, the most interesting was the reappearance after injury of Matt Perry, replacing Robbie Fleck whose attempts to pierce the Quins defences had been well resisted throughout. Perry’s presence seemed to encourage Bath, but it was Quins who scored with Roy Winter completing a fine run from the base of the scrum. Moore converted to bring Quins to 31 unanswered points.
Bath began to try to run the ball back at Quins at every opportunity. They were clearly determined not to be whitewashed. In the 72nd minute they succeeded when a pass from Perry put Mbu in on the left for a try. Burton missed the conversion despite the fact that someone had found him a kicking tee.
Form then until the final whistle Quins had to defend stoutly. This they did very well. The forwards had a fine match and produced a platform for the backs which allowed them to run with the ball, as well as contributing to the scoresheet. Chris Bell, playing fly-half for the first time since an U15 match at his school, was an able substitute for the injured Adrian Jarvis, while Mike Brown had a good game at full back.
Bath come to The Stoop seeking revenge next Monday. I doubt they will succeed. This 2nd XV will not lie down. They play with passion and pleasure and with a clear will to win.
Teams:
BATH UNITED: 15. Gareth Knox, 14. Mike Baxter (Murchie 69), 12. Dominic Hitchcock, 13. Robbie Fleck (Perry 60), 11. Joe Mbu, 10. Mitch Burton, 9. Hentie Martens, 1. David Barnes (c), 2. Rob Hawkins (Gould 74), 3. Chas Meddick, 4. Gary Gynn, 5. Dan Smith, 6. Wayne Sprangle (Ward 69), 7. James Scaysbrook ( Hocking 52), 8. Scott Gray
Replacements:
16 Alex Chase, 17 Mike Mangeolles, 18 Dave Ward, 19 Sam Hocking, 20 Matt Perry, 21 John Gould, 22 Pete Murchie
Tries: Mbu (72)
HARLEQUINS: 15. Mike Brown, 14. Rob Jewell, 13. Henry Barratt, 12. Andy Reay,
11. Matt Moore, 10. Chris Bell (Crawley 67), 9. Scott Bemand, (James 70) 1. Ceri Jones, 2. James Hayter, (Warrington-Matti 58) 3. Jon Dawson, 4. Tom Parker, 5. Simon Miall, 6. Chris Cracknell (Hart 67), 7. Luke Sherriff (Capt) 8. Roy Winters.
Replacements:
16. Marlow Warrington-Matti, 17. Tom Muggridge, 18. Reg Dejager, 19. Gavin Hart,
20. Duncan James, 21. Sean Crawley
Tries: Bell (2, 4) Hayter (43) Moore (55) Winters (66)
Cons: Moore (4, 55, 66)
REFEREE: G. Ashton-Jones (RFU)