B. Harlequins 3 36 – 10 Limavady 2
Fixture: League
Date: Saturday 5th November 2011 KO: 14:30
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Quins 36 – 10 Limavady 2s
The mighty 3s took the field on Saturday full of confidence following a timely arrival by everyone, a slick organised and clinical warm up with only Cabbage smelling of stale beer from the night before. It was clear to see even from the warm up that the 3s meant business likely following the disappointment of the previous week.
The game started with Quins appearing to suffer from some of the faults of the previous week with some lineouts not appearing as clinical, forwards working in ones & twos and several last passes being forced, resulting in knock-ons.
Pete Scott opened the scoreboard with a messy ball popping out of the side of a ruck, Pete collected the ball and made a scathing run from the opposition 22, sidestepping two players, handing off a third and diving over the line. Cabbage was unlucky not to convert to make the score 5-0.
The 3s had begun to settle into the game with the lineouts now starting to operate as planned thanks to some great darts from Ben & great jumping from ‘the wild man’ Charlie & Ritchie ‘too tall’ along with several solid runs by Andy McPhail beating the first and second tackler every time.
Harlequins were close to the opposition try line when a penalty was awarded to Quins and following some quick thinking by Josh ‘I’ve never done anything wrong’ McKee he took the penalty quickly to run in under the posts untouched by a Limavady hand. Cabbage converted, the score 12-0.
Starting to get ahead of themselves Cabbage attempted a drop goal from the ten yard line and approximately ten yards from the touch line, needless to say this drop goal went nowhere near the posts but rather the ball veered towards the crowd in the stand with shouts of “Duck!” “Ball!” and “What the f?*! was that!”. Not deterred from outlandish play the next touch of the ball by Cabbage was a pass through his legs to, yes you guessed it, to no-one!
Limavady who were a large and physical team came back with a series of pick and goes, following some poor tacking by Harlequins Limavady scored a try but were unable to convert. The score 12-5.
During the half time and a combination of encouragement & stern words it was made clear by the Skipper & ‘main man’ Ricky Mckee that the game was to be kept simple as simple rugby was all that was needed to win the game. The sun was to be used & Cabbage was to keep the Quins team playing in the Limavady half.
The second half started with great rucking by the pack who were working clearly as two pods. Following great hands by the backs Connor scored a well worked try with a successful conversion by Cabbage. The score 19-5.
The referee made a very strange call following a dramatic jump by Conor to prevent the ball going into touch and passing the ball behind his back whilst in the air, with the ball landing in Andy ‘Gibbo’s’ hands for another try. However the referee declared Connor was in touch from his clear vantage point of 40 yards away. The referee quickly apologised when he caught up with play realising the error of his decision but still insisting on a scrum to Limavady. So Conor was not in touch but must have some-how knocked the ball on????
Following the tackle of a Limavady player who was unfortunately in the air, Josh ‘I’ve never done anything wrong’ McKee was given a yellow card despite Josh claiming to have ensured that the tacked player got to the ground safely…..
Following another period of play dominated by Quins, great hands by the backs and Ben ‘I’m supposed to be a hooker’ Snowden hanging out on the wing. It appeared that a Limavady player knocked the ball out of Cabbages’ hands which was some how behind his back. The ball landed in Ben hands and he scored in the corner which was too far out for Cabbage to convert. The score 24-5
Unfortunately Calum Long was struck by the Deramore sniper (formerly the Collegian sniper) and it appeared that Quins may be reduced to 13 men. However following some magic water over his ankle Calum played on.
After some great positional kicking by Cabbage, good rucking by the pack, Quins were once again in the Limavady 22. Following a well worked ruck by the pack a good pass from Cabbage who was standing in at 9 whilst Josh was off Andy McPail forced his way through 3 tackles to score underneath the posts. Cabbage converted taking the score to 31-5.
Josh was allowed back on the pitch bit unfortunately Calum had twisted his bad ankle again and had to leave the park. Closely followed by Francois who had apparently merely been defended himself ??? resulting in a ten minute break for both himself and his new friend from Limavady.
Quins still dictated the play with their 13 players on the pitch with another period of good positional kicking by Cabbage, good mauling by the pack, great hands by the backs resulting in a score by Gibbo in the corner following a great pass by Andy McPail who could arguably have been in for his second try had he not made the pass to Gibbo. Gibbo had some work to do when he received the pass stepping a Limavady player and scoring in the corner. Cabbage passed the kicking duties to Conor who missed the conversion. Score 36-5.
After the restart, penalty after penalty resulted in Limavady attacking the Quins try line. Some great defence by all most notably by ‘the wild man’ Charlie who, with no concern for his own wellbeing put in the ‘hit of the day’ with a massive try saving tackle. However following a good period of play by Limavady they scored with what appeared to be a well worked pre planned move scoring a try which they were unable to convert. Full time score 36-10.
A great performance by all players 1-15 but it is essential for all players to get up to training on Thursday at 7pm if the winning ways are to continue.
B. Harlequins 4 14 – 5 Antrim 1
Fixture: League
Quins 4XV 14 – 5 Antrim 1XV
Quins Edge Another Tough Home Game
The 4s continued their winning ways with a home victory against Antrim 1st XV but trying to pick highlights out of this game has proved difficult. Deramore was bathed in sunshine and the pitch was in a great state despite a week of rain however the game did not match the conditions and it was an extremely error-strewn and disjointed affair with little in the way of any real continuity. Those playing and watching will be fully aware of the reason for this. The early exchanges were pretty even and it was left to Mark Scott to convert two penalties to take Quins into a 6-0 lead. The tackling and overall defending was solid with Jack Lavery, playing out of position, putting in a great try saving tackle mid-way through the first period to keep Quins slightly on top. There was no action of any real note during the rest of the half and the half time score read 6-0.
While Quins appeared to start the second period with a little more urgency and control they found it difficult to break down the Antrim defence and any threatening attacks were either stopped by the Antrim defenders or by making simple mistakes resulting in turnovers. The only Quins try of the afternoon came courtesy of Paul Gardiner who drove over from short range to make it 11-0 and with Scotty slotting over a penalty moments later the score read 14-0. It was Antrim however who had the last say scoring a try with 5 minutes to go to make it 14-5 but this was to be the end of the scoring and, at the final whistle, a relieved Quins team came away with the points.
In summation, Quins started poorly and seemed to lack the motivation and passion that has been present in previous weeks. The forwards yet again battled well but were guilty on numerous occasions of going into rucks far too upright giving Jack and Johnny at scrum life little in the way of consistent quality ball. Matt ran well at centre and made ground as did Jack when he came into the line; Scotty put in another solid performance taking control of things when required but for his work rate, tackling and sneaking in for a try, the man-of-the-match was Paul Gardiner. Next week it’s a short trip to the Count Antrim town of Ballyclare to play the league leaders.
