Another win, this time against Kilburn Cosmos 33 - 5 last Saturday is one step closer to the goal and puts us currently at the top of the Herts/Middlesex 3 South league.

This they did with a forward display lead by skipper Andrew Robinson who was voted man of the match, which simply saw - and I quote Assistant manger Angela Simpson - "their pack move backwards faster than a ......." .

Robinson's persistent attacking and of scuppering nearly all of Kilburn's set piece moves, line out's and scrums supported by Matt Stevens and Billy Katiyo certainly must have dashed Kilburns hopes of getting any quick ball out to their backs.

However, it wasn't until the 17th minute that Quins scored their first try through tenacious efforts by Benn Richards to cross the line aided by Ed Sterk and Andrew Lawrence, the conversion attempt by Ben Wigley sadly failed.

From the restart Quins who took control and after a good passage of play set up second phase option which resulted in a good attacking move down the backs only for the final pass go to ground. This was seized upon by Kilburn who hoofed the ball down field. The ball was gathered by Philippe Ah-Sun who gathered the ball despite three Kilburn attackers gathering pace, whereupon Ah-Sun danced round and slipped a canny side step to open up the field and counter attacked. Ah-Sun was eventually tackled in Kilburns 22 having run through most of the opposition.

Quins Hooker Mark Hillier won the put in against the head which set up the 2nd try of the day by Matt Jones playing at centre. Wigley taking over the kicking duties failed on this attempt.

From the restart so much was the pressure of the Quins forwards that Kilburn, after a 20 yard drive and maul, infringed and Quins were awarded a penalty which was converted by Wigley.

Once again Harlequins gained good controlled possession from the restart and from a miss move which saw Matt Jones at pace break the defence line to score another well worked try. Again this was unconverted and as the half time whistle went Quins were leading 18-0.

Half time saw the injured Kwasi Appah replaced by Dave Francis on the wing and within 10 minutes saw Stuart Houghten replace the injured Billy Katiyo. Quins made hard work of the opening 15 minutes which allowed Kilburn to come back into the game, scoring their only points of the day - a try out on the wing which was unconverted.

At this point, the relentless work rate of Andy Lawrence who had just returned after a bout of flu, made itself felt and saw him leave the field on all fours. His replacement the 45 year old Terry Newman took up the challenge. The fresh legged Newman burst away from a loose maul, billowed his way through many an opposition and with only the try line in sight fell at the last hurdle. Lawrence from the sideline heaved a sigh of relief and rose to a near standing position.

Quins desperately needed to resurrect the unit skills which served them well in the first half and sooner rather than later if they were to prevent Kilburns revival. This they did which allowed Ben Wigley to score a try from a good passage of play following a good kick down field by Francis who eagerly chased and harried the opposition. Quins were awarded the resulting put in, from which Wigley scored.

With the end of the game in sight it was Francis who scored Quin's last try under the posts which was converted by Wigley, and from the restart Quins were quickly awarded another penalty, WhenWigley converted this, the whistle blew to end the game with Quins the winners 33-5.


1st team squad:
Andrew Lawrence, Mark Hillier, Tom Cooper, Benn Richards, Ed Sterck, Stuart Houghton, Billy Katiyo, Andy Robinson (capt.), Matt Stevens, Ben Wigley, Phillipe Ah-Sun, Russell Wigginton, Matt Jones, James Williams, Kwasi Appah, Colin Crowther, Terry Newman, Dave Francis

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