Quins Return to Winning Ways

An extremely windy afternoon saw Harlequin Amateurs welcome Hampstead 3’s to Teddington Lock for a hotly anticipated fixture. With a weakened and depleted team travelling the day after a heavy luncheon the day prior to Hampstead away, Quins lost the previous meeting between the two sides but the entire squad were looking to right this wrong.
Looking fiery from the off, Quins put pressure on the kick-off to force a knock on and receive the ball from a scrum for their first spell in possession. 3 minutes of good carrying and rucking were completely undone when one Hampstead player drover through a ruck of 3 Quins players to turn the ball over before Hampstead shifted the ball wide and their winger scored after running through two tackles. The conversion missed on a swirling day, Quins trailed 0-5. Frustrated by the turnover the intension was to force another quick turn over however, this was not to be. Hampstead regathered set up two rucks before their centre found a gapping hole on the side of a ruck that a double decker bus would have gladly gone through. He skipped his way through the line and past our full back to touch down under the posts. No mishap with the kicking tee this time, 0-12. If you’re reading and you think this was all a sign of things to come and Quins would unravel you will be happily surprised. At 5 minutes in and 0-12 down, it was exactly the kick up the backside our players needed. Seamus Walsh rushed up from the restart to smash their catcher. Now with the fuel added and the spark provided Quins finally got into gear. The remaining 35 minutes of the half saw Quins dominate set piece, overturning lines outs and driving their scrum back. Rather than opting for a tap penalty 5 meters out from the opposition tryline, Quins opted for a scrum and looked certain for a push over try. Unfortunately on a muddy field the Amateurs scrum slipped and let Hampstead turn over the ball and use the wind to clear down into Quins half. More fight and grit saw Quins push back into the opposition 22, with a penalty conceded we instead opted for a line out and utilise a driving maul. However blistery wind conditions were against us and the ball was deemed not straight, despite no opposition jumper. Fast forward to the 35th minute and following strong carries from the Addis boys Chris Addis and Aaron Addis quins were still camped in the Hampstead 22. A few rucks to the left allowed Si Hubbard to fizz a pass right for George Jaques to power through the Hampstead 10 and 12 before touching down on the 15 meter minute line. Conversion made 7-12. The half-time whistle was blown and Quins gathered, full of optimism and determination to turn the score around.
With the wind at our backs Quins took the restart and Si Rowland made an initial 15 meters bulldozing his way through. Further carries by David Love & Mark Crow found Quins with good ball position on the half way line and Quins began playing tactically kicking for the corner. Leaping like a salmon in the air, Will O’Donnell’s long arm batted the ball back Quins’ way and Luke Nugent took the ball from 9 smashing up the middle. A few rhinos left and right, an attempted snipe from Si Hubbard were all thwarted short, before with a 4 man over-lap, Sean Gorman had white-line fever. He picked up the ball, hit the Hampstead defensive line, pulled out the dressing room favourite the SG spinning shuffle, diving and stretching with all his might. Sadly there was no slow motion, no titanic music in the back ground but ladies and gentleman this beautiful piece of play surely deserved it. Sean touched down before leaping with glee to score his first try of the season. Conversion made 14-12. Hampstead offered little in the way of attacking impetus in the next 20 minutes as Quins truly dominated every aspect of the game. Being held up outside of the Hampstead 22 for 5 minutes and nearly all the Quins players involved in 2 rucks the ball was spun back to George Jaques who had no other option but to attempt the drop goal. Groans from the touchline and screams of Nooooooooo, were soon subdued as the ball sored through the uprights to give Quins a 17-12 lead. Hampstead conceded another penalty in front of the Quins 22 and with the wind behind a kick to touch had Hampstead now back in the own 22. With the maul stalling going forward the ball was played from right to left, strong rucking from the Quins forwards, big carries from the backs and it looked like Quins were settling down for the night here. Receiving the ball on the 22 George Jaques hit through that same 10 and 12 channel and cruised over the try line under the posts to extend the Quins lead converting his own try. 24-12. With 10 minutes of the game left further pressure from Quins resulted in a penalty 25 meters out in front of the posts. Wanting to ensure the victory and putting Hampstead over a converted score behind Quins. Quins lead 27-12. With less than 5 minutes remaining Hampstead managed to score on the right hand side of the field that Quins were defending. Bewildered that the referee let them take a quick tap penalty when we had a player down with a head injury quins had stopped playing to their own downfall. Keeping the scorer out wide the conversion was missed and the final score was 27-17.
Quins were relieved and glad to get back to winning ways and had lots of positives to take from a match in which the dominated baring the first 5 minutes. A strong team effort saw this win through and pull Quins out of what looked to be another defeat looming in the first 5 minutes. With work ons required for Wednesday’s session Quins look optimistic for the remainder of the season. Your man of the Match today was George Jaques whilst our DoD was awarded to Jimmy Lynch for his barnstorming run that was halted by, well himself, he just stopped and stood there. Further to this and not being available next week Quins also celebrated the 30th birthday of Aaron Addis with beers and doughnuts at the Builders.