Ben Gollings was chosen to start at fly half possibly suggesting that he might be a replacement for Burke at some point; and Reay partnered Greenstock meaning Satala will start on Saturday in place of Bell who will be out for three to four weeks after sustaining a slight tear to his hamstring against Leicester on Saturday. Ian Martin from the U21 team was chosen in place of Scott Bemand at scrum half.

Northampton kicked off and the ball was caught but the pass from Martin to Gollings was far over his head which put pressure on Quins deep in their own territory but a Northampton knock on gave the visiting side the put in to the scrum on their own 5m line from which Gollings cleared the ball. Northampton won the ball and kicked to touch 5 metres out, Quins won the resulting line out and were awarded a scrum. Despite the powerful front row of Starr, Caputo and Cardinali the Quins scrum rolled backwards at a rate of knots allowing the Northampton No 7 to score, the conversion was successful to give the home side a 7-0 lead.

Quins won the restart and Ugo Monye tried a break but was stopped, but the home side had infringed giving a chance to Gollings to reduce the arrears which he duly did (7-3).

The kick off went to Gollings who kicked the ball downfield and a strong Quins defence (including some good tackling by Argentine prop Cardinali) held out a Northampton attack, the Northampton No 10 Brooks chipped the ball through to give a lineout to Quins 15m from their own line. The throw was received well by Miall and the ball was cleared by Gollings. Northampton attacked and again Quins first up tackling was solid, but a penalty was given away for bringing down a rolling maul even though the maul hadn’t actually been brought down and Northampton still had possession – an ‘interesting’ decision by the referee to say the least! Mark Tucker received the ball and was allowed to drive forward through the defenders to score on the left, the conversion was slotted which increased Northampton’s lead to 11 points (14-3).

Northampton were guilty of handling in the ruck soon after the restart, Gollings kicked to touch and Miall again received the ball and a good series of passes caught the Northampton defence offside, again Gollings kicked to touch. The lineout went well again and Quins pushed over the Northampton line from 5m out to give Starr a score wide out on the left. The tricky conversion was missed (14-8).

The next few passages of play were quite untidy from both sides, with a lost line out from Quins and knock ons by Northampton, who were eventually awarded a penalty that they kicked to touch 15m from the Quins line. They won the line set up a powerful rolling maul allowing the scrum half Howard to run round the blind side to score. The conversion was missed restoring the home side’s 11 lead (19-8).

Evans pressurised the catcher at the kick off leading to a knock on, the ball was won messily and play broke down with Evans being penalised for not releasing. Eventually Quins won a lineout on the Northampton 10m line, the ball was passed to Jewell on the short side, the ball was recycled well and Gollings made a break through the centre but was stopped by a dangerous neck tackle giving Quins a penalty 45m out in front of the posts. Disappointingly the referee didn’t reprimand the guilty player. Gollings tried for goal and had the length but was just wayward with his kick.

The drop out went to Wilcocks who attacked well, the ball was recycled well and the ball was chipped high to the corner for Quins’ No.7 Chris Cracknell to chase from which Quins were awarded a penalty. The ball was kicked to touch 5m out and Quins won the lineout and drove the ball over but the referee decided the ball had been held up over the line. There was a knock on by Quins at the 5m scrum and Northampton cleared the ball to relieve the pressure.

Quins had the first of three free kicks awarded against them for taking too long to throw the ball into a line out . The final minutes of the first half had Quins putting the heavier Northampton scrum under pressure and it also saw a good break by the centre Andrew Reay but no more points were added by either side. (19-8 HT).

The management pulled Bruce Starr off at half time and replaced him with the youngster Ben Hopkins.

The second half started with a great break from Jewell who was well supported by Gollings but the ball went to ground and the attack faltered but a knock on by Northampton awarded Quins a scrum 5m from the Northampton line. The Quins scrum continued to dominate and pushed their opponents back but were deemed to have knocked on over the line. Quins managed to get the ball over the line moments later but another knock on (this time by Monye) was spotted by the referee and the pressure came to nothing.

Northampton cleared their line with a long kick which Wilcocks took well at the back who ran back standing up to strong tackling from the home side, a kick and chase by Monye looked to be a good attack but a penalty was awarded to Northampton for use of hands on the ground. Another period of good Quins defence and knock ons by both sides followed.

A long Northampton kick downfield was taken well by Wilcocks who span the ball under pressure to Gollings who unfortunately slipped leading to panic at the back, but the ball was cleared to touch by Darryl Griffin. Another period of messy paly followed with a number of knock ons caused by the drizzly conditions and chill wind. Quins were awarded a kick 40m out for not releasing on the ground. Gollings kicked successfully to reduce the deficit to 8 points (19-11).

Miall stole a Northampton line but a penalty was given away for not releasing on the ground. Northampton attacked and the Quins’ defence held up well and Wilcocks again tidied up well at the back only to be felled by a high tackle which the referee didn’t penalise and Dan Richmond scored to increase Northampton’s lead to 24-11.

Northampton again kicked deep to Wilcocks who slipped just before taking the ball and he managed to clear the ball to touch. At the lineout the home captain, Jon Phillips, became a tad feisty and threw a couple of punches that the referee and touch judge ignored but which the Quins supporters saw only too clearly and suggested that Phillips might want to calm down – at which point he seemed to request the presence of Binky on the pitch to discuss the matter further!

A good break by Monye who showed strength and pace took the ball deep into Northampton territory and Jon Phillips showed his short temper again by shoulder barging instead of tackling – again something not noticed by the officials – and a penalty was awarded to Quins for offside. Gollings again kicked to touch and a well worked catch and drive saw Kai Horstmann score wide out on the right. Gollings again missed a difficult conversion to leave the score 24-16.

The only passage of interesting play in the last few minutes was a chip and chase by Gollings who slipped before taking the ball again leading to nothing. The final score remained 24-16.

So Quins lost but it was definitely a game we could and perhaps should have won. Quins took the ball over the Northampton line three times only to be held up or knock it on. Miall had a good game in the second row and the scrum dominated for much of the game. Ian Martin looked like a good prospect at scrum half and Gollings looked comfortable at No.10 – although Ratty might like to put longer studs in his boots so he doesn’t slip on wet ground so often. Greenstock and Reay were solid in the centres and the back three of Jewell, Monye and Wilcocks all performed well.

There were too many mistakes but that could have been put down to the cold and wet conditions. The problem of giving away free kicks for taking too long at the line out should be easy to remedy, but you would thing the referee would allow a bit of time to dry the ball before throwing it in such conditions.

The new stand at Franklin’s Gardens looked good and hopefully will give some idea of what The Stoop may look like if we get planning permission to redevelop the ground. The Northampton and Bedford fans were as pleasant as always but it was a shame to come away without a win.

Quins Team: 15 Max Wilcocks, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Nick Greenstock, 12 Andrew Reay, 11 Rob Jewell, 10 Ben Gollings, 9 Ian Martin, 1 Bruce Starr (capt), 2 Marc Caputo, 3 Pablo Cardinali, 4 Jim Evans, 5 Simon Miall, 6 Darryl Griffin, 7 Chris Cracknell, 8 Kai Horstmann.
Replacements: Henry Barratt, Tom Williams, Ben Hopkins, Ross Hansbury

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