Quins 29-17 Blackrock College
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Quins secure their first UBL 1B win with a 3 try win over Dublin side Blackrock. More to follow on the I XV asap.
Armoy 2 14 vs 54 Belfast Harlequins League 4’s Win on the Road in Armoy
On a bright but chilly afternoon in the County Antrim hills, the 4’s ran in a total of 8 ties against an Armoy 2XV in their first season of minor rugby. The Armoy players and their back room staff deserve credit for their hospitality and while the scoreline suggests a one sided affair, the Armoy men stuck at it and scored the final points of the day, much to the delight of their home supporters.
The game started well for Quins with a well worked try from Ben Craig after some quick ruck ball and slick handling by the backs. Scotty converted from wide to make it 0-7 but, straight from the kick-off, the Armoy men took advantage of some “Halloween Howlers” in the Quins defence to scramble over under the posts to level at 7-7.
For the next ten minutes, something was lacking in the Quins attack with several basic passes going to ground but after 15 mins, Ben on the left wing used his pace to round his man and go over in the corner. Again Scotty converted to make it 7-14. This seemed to settle the 4’s and they put together some good phases of play taking them deep into the Armoy half. Armoy kicked to clear their lines and the ball was gathered on the Quins 10 metre line by Ben Whitley. He took off at pace danced round several forwards then hared through a gap in the back line to score one of the best tries this small balding man has ever seen at this level. The conversion made it 7-21 with ten minutes remaining of the half. Again errors cost the Quins men some hard fought ground but after a series of penalties, Ben Craig scuttled over in the corner to make the half-time score 7-26, the coversion going just wide.
The 4s started brightly in the second period and some long ranging kicks from Scotty put the side in good scoring positions. McC, on his return, took advantge of this and barged over for three tries within a 15 minute spell to kill off any Armoy resistance. His strength on the ball was a delight to watch and with the three conversions the scoreline was an impressive 7-47 with 15 minutes to go. This saw the introduction of Ryan at full back who, with his first touch of the game, strolled majestically over the line (despite having an overlap!) to make it 7-54 with the conversion. Armoy were not going to leave without one mighty effort and they duly scored a try under the Quins posts despite some heroic defending. Fair play to them for not lying down. Final score 7-54 for the visitors.
The forwards played well against a heavier pack with scrums and line-outs working very well and the rucking clinical at times. The defence was excellent for most of the game as was the attacking play but the error count was frustrating and resulted in two mild-mannered middle- aged men developing Tourettes. Ricky on his return to the side played solidly at full back, Tom did well coming on as a sub and AJ, playing out of position in the line-out, was a revelation. McC ran great lines all day eagerly supported by Dr Fergal and the back row worked well as a unit for the majority of the game. The injuries to Aidan and Caren will hopefully be cosmetic and with a break for one Saturday hopefully they will return for Malone 4s on 10 November at Deramore.
