By Chris Kelly
February 11 2003

The Amateurs played out of their boots on Saturday to beat league leaders Belsize Park 22 – 14 in what was a must win game for Quins in the Herts/Middlesex 3 South league. There was definitely a feel good factor flowing through the team on the day with perfect weather conditions for good running rugby. Once again the team were playing on a very heavy pitch at the Brunel University campus site – as a result the Harlequins have become fitter over the last few weeks of playing there.

Harlequins were not quite at full strength - but that’s nothing new - for the match against the current league leaders. Quins beat them on their home turf earlier in the season and it was this that gave Quins the edge. Lose this game and any hope of promotion for the Amateurs was out.

From the start of play Quins found themselves on the back foot in their own 22 for 10 minutes fiercely defending and scuppering the oppositions constant barrage of attack. The more pressure Quins soaked up, the more confident they became in their own ability and quite soon turned disadvantage into advantage. Quins won turnover ball and quickly sent it out to the eager Ben Wigley who broke through the Belsize defence, passed it on to Daniel Camacho and then onto Brandon van der Westhuizen who ran thirty yards to score Quins first try.

Brad Westcott, playing out of position at full back, failed to convert.


From the restart Quins captain Andy Robinson, with his back row assassins Billy (in your face) Katiyo and Stuart Houghton, rallied to deny Belsize any ball and so let their backs loose. But in a complete turnaround of the first 10 minutes, it was Belsize Park who had to repel the Quins attacks. The persistent pressure finally paid off with a strong driving maul by the Quins forwards from outside the 22 for a good 20 yards resulting in big Benn Richards scoring Quins 2nd try.

Brad Westcott, playing out of position at full back, failed to convert.

From the restart it was Quins again who had the upper hand. Scrum half Matt Pead was like a little Jack Russell, digging, delving, probing, ever present and presenting good swift ball to the backs and kicking with infinite wisdom, pushing Belsize back at every opportunity. Despite the amount of pressure being exerted on Belsize, Quins failed to capitalise and as the half time whistle blew, were leading by only 10 - 0.

Turn around at half time saw no substitutions from either side. With such a slender margin, the game was there to be won by either side.

The start of the 2nd half saw Quins start where they left off - in the Belsize 22. The front row of Tom Cooper, Mark Hillier and Andy Lawrence were demolishing the opposition in set piece play, with Richards and the gazelle like Robinson likewise in the line outs. For four solid minutes of play the Quins forwards demonstrated unit skills to complement their driving force in the scrums, which up to now had been lacking throughout the season: recycling of the ball, driving and mauling at will.

But Belsize held firm and waited for their chance…. Which came soon enough. A blind side drive saw the ball go to ground and Belsize pounced to kick the ball down field. So intent were Quins on scoring, and so flat was their defence, that Belsize ran through, collected the ball and scored under the posts. After the conversion the score was Quins 10, Belsize Park 7.

Quins substituted Stuart Houghton, drained after just recovering from flu for Matt Stevens returning after a long injury.

From the restart, Belsize kicked down field straight into the hands of Stevens who with fresh legs stamped his mark upon the game immediately with a good run down the blind side, setting up good 1st phase ball. Katiyo picked it up and set up good clean 2nd phase ball for Pead out to Wigley, Camacho and then to van der Westhuizen who ran a good line into their 22 where Quins camped for about five minutes of pressure. Belsize again stood their ground, Quins got turned over and Belsize kicked for touch. The resulting line out was won by Richards, secured by Stevens who popped the ball to the tireless evergreen Terry Newman, playing out of position at lock, who succeeded in blasting his way through a tiring Belsize defence to score a well worked try.

Brad Westcott, playing out of position at full back, failed to convert.

After the restart Quins continued stamping their authority on the game, which was clearly becoming theirs for the taking. Wing Kwasi Appah scored the Quins 4th try of the game as a result of sticking to the set game plan, achieving good distribution after setting up 2nd phase ball.

Brad Westcott, playing out of position at full back, converted the try to the resounding cheers of fellow teammates and spectators alike.

The final minutes of the game saw Quins sit back a little as their efforts started to catch up on them. Belsize to their credit never gave up and rallied to score a well-worked final try, which was converted. The final whistle blew with Quins victors by 22-14.

Man of the match was scrum half Matt Pead. His clinical decision-making and distribution along with scampering runs and dogged defence made this his best performance of the season. This in no way should take anything away from the teams best performance of the season either. Everyone played with a lot of commitment and pride.

Next week Quins play Osterley at Brunel University campus site on Wood Lane. Kick off is 2.15pm.

Socially speaking…
Our best wishes go to Paul Jensen and Colin Crowther who recently celebrated their birthdays.
We’re still on the lookout for players and supporters to join the Amateurs for their Easter foray to Amsterdam. A good squad has signed up but there’s always room for more. For more information please call Chris Kelly on 07947 374 320 or 020 8545 1198.
Congratulations should also go to the Ladies for their famous victory on Sunday. Amateurs rock!

1st team squad:
Andrew Lawrence, Mark Hillier, Tom Cooper, Benn Richards, Terry Newman, Stuart Houghton, Billy Katiyo, Andy Robinson (capt.), Matt Stevens, Matt Pead, Ben Wigley, Dan Camacho, Brandon van der Westhuizen, Brad Westcott, Kwasi Appah, Matt Jones, James Williams.