Acting-Captain Matt Stevens said ‘it was a poor performance which led to a disappointing result. And it highlights the importance of maintaining concentration for the rest of the season”.

Osterley took advantage of their opportunities to win by two tries and a conversion to Quins sole try. By contrast Quins never really got into the game. Injuries have been plaguing the club for the last month and continued through the game with 3 players coming off.

Quins had a lucky start . Osterley missed 3 penalty kicks before Jon Fairweather put Quins only try on the board. Matt Stevens made a steaming run down the sideline before being pulled out over the touchline 10 metres out. The resulting scrum and ruck gave hooker Fairweather the chance to steal the ball and drive over for his try, in a move similar to last week.

Osterley pulled the scores level with an unconverted try in the corner, then moved ahead when a quick-thinking player grounded the ball following a lucky bounce off the posts. With the conversion the score was 5 –12 at the half way mark and stayed that way for the rest of the game.

The second half was a mixture of silly play and missed penalty chances, with no further scoring. Quins came close on a couple of occasions. Once after camping on the try line; and later a breakaway try was disallowed by the Referee who cited a previous infringement. With frustration mounting both sides had their hookers sin-binned in separate incidents. But Osterley put up staunch defence to hold on for their first win of the season.

Injuries had also taken their toll on the Wanderers team so the Harlequin Cavaliers took up the mantle of the Wanderers fixture in the London Senior Merit Table against Wasps, after their original game against Rosslyn Park Jurassics was cancelled.

Cavaliers ran out the winners against Wasps 36 – 17. But that game too, came at a cost. Harlequin Chris Stewart spent the weekend in hospital after breaking an ankle following a tackle in the first 20 minutes.

“Apart from that it was a pretty standard game” said player/manager Jarrod Smith. “ Wasps put up a good defence despite uncontested scrums, and I wouldn’t say it was an easy win”.

Wasps could not supply a front row and so conceded the game before going on the field. The resulting match gave all the Cavalier players and subs the chance to play. Try scorers for Quins included Gareth Martin, Greg Hunt and Andrew Swan.
Next week the 1st team have a bye in the first round of the Middlesex Cup while the Wanderers will take on Pacific Islanders in a friendly at Richmond Athletic Ground. Kick-off is 3pm.

1st team squad:
Philipe Au-Sun, James Hayden, Kwasi Appah, Matthew Jones, Henry Quinlan, Russell Smith, Matthew Pead, John Lawrence, Jon Fairweather, Andrew Lawrence, Benn Richards, Christopher Liddington, Hamid Zayouna, Billy Katiyo, Matt Stevens (Capt), Terry Newman, Russell Wigginton, Tim Cairns

And Finally….
The end of season tour has been decided on. The Amateurs will head for Amsterdam for Easter next year….amongst the scrummaging, rucking and team play, they will also endeavour to get a couple of games of rugby in.
We wish a speedy recovery to the above mentioned Chris Stewart who broke his ankle. His manager Jarrod Smith wasn’t too concerned “He works behind a desk so it shouldn’t bother him too much - but training may be tricky”.


HARLEQUIN AMATEURS ARE PROUD TO BE SPONSORED BY:

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