Harlequins win to reach semi-finals

After the confusion of who and where we were playing the semi final, Harlequin Amateurs ventured up to North London to take on Mill Hill RFC. In the first game between the two clubs Mill Hill sneaked the win at St Mary’s with the last kick of the game, and Quins were determined not to let that happen again. Expecting a strong forwards game with direct running Quins were fortunate in having a very strong pack. Outside that pack was probably the most powerful backline we’ve had all season.
We must extend a warm welcome back to Graeme Tew who is playing his first game in about 3 years after surgery on his knee.
One of the biggest moments in the game came very early on in the first scrum, in the previous match Mill Hill had bullied us up front making it very difficult to play, but in the first scrum not only did Quins hold their own they managed to push the Mill Hill pack back a little, this was a huge boost for Quins who then looked to play life they had at the start of the season.
The first score was an absolute peach and up there for try of the season, Morgan Reece collecting a kick from just outside his own 22 then beat 5 defenders to touch down for the first try. George Jaques nailed the conversion in tricky windy conditions for Quins to lead 0-7.
Quins were awarded a penalty within range and George stepped up, Mike Lovelock was assigned to hold the ball, but apparently missed the brief of how hard to hold it, so George could only get it a few yards of the ground. Fortune was smiling on Quins however as Mill Hill knocked on on their 5m line trying to catch the ball.
In the resulting phases big boy Ash Armel-Close who in changing room was proud to be the heaviest member of the team, was having a good game doing what he loves, smashing into people, got just rewards for his efforts, breaking tackles and touching down for his first try. George slotted the conversion 0-14.
The dream start for Quins it seemed, but Mill Hill were not out of it, kicking for touch after a penalty saw a very strong well drilled rolling maul make several yards causing some problems in defense for Quins, some missed tackles saw Mill Hill go over to record their first score of the match, Mill Hill couldn’t get the conversion, 5-14.
With a scrum on the 5m line Quins pulled out a training ground move which saw Ash again cross the white wash for his brace, George couldn’t get the kick from the touchline, 5-19.
With Quins feeling the match was won Mill Hill struck back through some woeful tackling that was taken full advantage of, with Mill Hill scoring under the posts, the conversion was good, 12-19.
George Jaques not be outdone, kept up his impressive try/game ratio by running though an inviting gap, to touch down, slotting the conversion Quins extended their lead back to two scores, 12-26.
But yet again poor tackling on Mill Hill’s big runners caused holes in the Quins defence and Mill Hill hit back, the conversion was no good, and the score at half time, 17-26.
The second half was not quite as free flowing as the first as both defences seemed a bit tougher to break, but that soon came to an end as Quins’ forwards were producing some fantastic quick ball for the backs, saw the ball get out to the wing, where Ash was found again, beating the opposition for pace, and touching down under the posts, George kicked the extras, 17-33.
Surely that was enough, 16 points ahead and playing high tempo rugby, but then Luke Nugent decided to contribute the beer fund. The referee having enough of the both teams holding onto the ball reached into his pocket and showed yellow to Luke. Alongside this Ash after scoring his third try, took a knock to the head and was taken off, and Graeme Tew pulled his hamstring, no doubt as he hasn’t used it in 3 years.
So down to 14 men, a second row and a flanker playing in the centre, George Jaques moving to 10, Quins were looking vulnerable, and it didn’t take long for Mill Hill to strike, from a number 8 pickup, Mill Hill span it wide to exploit the extra mane, their winger then ran 40m to score despite a last ditch effort by George to hold up the ball. The kick was missed, 22-33.
Surely Quins couldn’t throw it away not after playing so well for the majority of the match. Mill Hill then threw Quins a massive lifeline as their hooker was shown a straight red for throwing punches, both teams down to 14 for a few minutes before Luke Nugent rejoined the fray.
Almost immediately with the backs spilt, George made a break this time exploiting the man down for Quins, offloading to Morgan, who in turn offloaded to Joe Watkins and with the try line beckoning Joe passes to Tom Samuel for probably the easiest try of his life. George got the kick, and the final score was 22-40.
There were huge performances across the pitch, Tom Samuel kept popping up in support and grabbed a try, Graeme Tew in his first game back, was a constant threat and ran the game beautifully until he came off. Jon Ede coming off with an injury, came back into the game to see the final whistle when there had to be forced substitutions.
The front row were exemplary against a very well drilled pack. Chris Bamber-Blake in his unfavoured role of winger beat too many defenders to county, Morgan scored the try of the game and was solid at that back, making yards with every run. George’s kicking was of the highest standard and played both 13 and 10 excellently.
But ultimately man of the match came down to the two flankers who were superb, making nuisances of themselves all over the pitch. But as there can only be one Man of the Match, it goes to Will Flaherty for his turnovers, tackling and strength whilst carrying.
Dick of the Day is a bit easier only one candidate so congratulations Luke Nugent, get the beers in mate.
It was great to have supporters travel all the way up to Mill Hill in the awful traffic thanks for coming. The next match will be the semi-final; we will know the opposition this week.
As I’m sure a lot of people will be available for selection it is imperative that everyone trains. There is no training this week as St Mary’s is closed for Easter. So we want a huge turnout for 9 April as we bid to make the final