“Devels” end Queens unbeaten run in League
On Wednesday evening Queens made the short trip to Deramore Park to play the “Devels” in the Ulster Senior 2nd XV league, the last time these sides met it was on a sunny afternoon at the Dub in the Conference League in which Queens came out on top.
The conditions on this occasion were to be the opposite with it being a typical winters evening with the wind and rain making handling conditions poor and although Queens sit at the top of the League unbeaten the Devels were confident in their approach.
Both sides started the game at pace, keen to get the opening score and it was the home side who got the first chance at points with a shot at goal from a penalty which just went wide.
From the restart both sets of forwards fought hard to supply their backs with the ball and both sides appeared equal in skill but unfortunately for the “Devels” hard working open side flanker, Kyle Adams, keen to follow up his opening score last Saturday, received an nasty hip injury and had to leave the field of play putting the home side down to 14 men.
This aided the visitors who started to dominate the scrum but were unable to create anything due to the hard defence by the Quins side and as a result were awarded a kickable penalty on the 20 minute mark which Mark Best kicked, 3-0
The home sides aggressiveness paid off 5 minutes later with them being awarded another penalty which Jonny Holmes put between the posts. 6 -0,
Queens came back at the “Devels” working them up to their line but as with the previous match with City of Derry, their line was well defended and Queens could not get across the whitewash but all the pressure soon resulted in a penalty for Queens and a clean shot through the posts. 6 – 3.
The half was to play out with two more penalties awarded to the home side kicked by Holmes, halftime score 12 – 3.
The wind was suiting the side playing towards the clubhouse and the pitch firmer but for the home side it was to be different the second half as they were kicking into the wind and pitch under foot softer, a number of penalty attempts went wide but the overall pressure from the players meant they were in control of the game. Queens did score through a penalty 10 minutes into the second half, 12 – 6 giving them a chance of a win with a converted try.
Quins having played most of the game with 14 men seemed to be a bit slower around the pitch as the game progressed and the odd mistake came into play giving Queens the momentum, but once Queens looked like creating a score the Home side came back to 100% and ensured the line was not crossed, final score 12 – 6
The large crowd of supporters were entertained to a good game of rugby and one that maybe did deserve an few tries, but credit must go to both sides for their defence on such an evening.
The “Devels” next game is against Instonians 2’s on 29th December 12 30 ko
