Halloween....who would take the part of Michael Myers, I wondered. Dan Scarbrough, Phil Christophers?
Would it be a Trick or treat for Quins supporters?
Would we have A “mare” at Headingley?

Our last league match there in April was definitely a nightmare. Dan Luger sent off for having too many colours in his shirt and “We was robbed!” in the final seconds. A “Nightmare on Elm Street”?
For many travelling supporters it was a “Nightmare on the M1” certainly!

One good thing about away games where a Quinssa coach is not viable is that the supporters who take a day off or who battle their own way “oop north” after work are not going to walk out on the boys with 10 minutes to go, and the supporters who travelled to Leeds for our first match of three against them in just five weeks, were rewarded for their efforts. The match was not the best rugby either team has played since the beginning of the season but Quins made a much more confident start than our last two efforts.

Ace unfortunately broke down in training on Thursday and did not make the journey north with the rest of the team. A huge disappointment to us all as his fiery enthusiasm and total commitment is always missed. I’m sure he will have been gutted too. He lives to be “on the park.” (not a typo, lives and loves)   Ugo, Chris and Karl were all back from injury while George could be ready for our next meeting with his ex-employers. James Hayter was still suffering but, with Tani out for another couple of weeks, started again as hooker.  He was unable to train all week and was practically held together with “vinegar and brown paper.” Burkey was still limping a bit after his calf injury last week and was on the bench as back up to Andy Dunne who made his first start at fly half. Josh was also back but Mike Worsley, who had been due to play, had flu and Ceri Jones took his place.

Who says our boys don’t give 100%?

It was a bright, bitterly cold night (Ben Willis wore gloves, I noticed) as we settled down in our seats. Luckily Prof had brought his flask of “lighter fuel” so I knew we wouldn’t freeze! Witches and warlocks were out and about in Headingley and either Guy Fawkes was being remembered early or Diwali was being celebrated late as fireworks were an occasional distraction from the action on the pitch.

A mere 3205 people (against 4305 last season on the 4th April) had turned up to watch Leeds play Quins. I will not start on about Friday night fixtures again as it’s all been said before. Jason sat on my lap and I had a pint in one hand and my new dictation machine in the other. Quite how I was supposed to take notes (Sleepy Hollow said I’d regret just using the machine and he’s done more match reports than I’ve had Ginsters pasties and he was right) I’ll never know.

Luckily I was sat between Innuendo Andy on my left and Buzz Lightyear on my right, who kept me up to date and explained (some of) the referee’s decisions. (Buzz was fired later for giving me duff information about a non-existent injury to Captain Fantastic, Andre Vos.) Sleepy Hollow and Prof were also within shouting distance, (when aren’t they?) so I had a steady stream of commentary.

The first half showed a Quins side with more confidence than last week with Hayter making some good long throws to some of the lineouts and more determined tackling and improved ball handling from the boys. Quins had come up to win and it showed.  The rugby was not pretty from either side and the flurry of tries, anticipated by Kev T in his preview, did not materialise in the first half.  By half time the score was 9 all, with Andy Dunne matching Duncan Hodge kick for kick.  (Apologies to Andy for completely missing one of his goals as Jon Dawson was changing his shorts at the time! Having interviewed Jon on Wednesday for CAW I thought this was essential viewing!)

I did notice that our hosts were not particularly respectful when Dunne was kicking for goal, so we’re not the only ones whose fans occasionally need reminding of this courtesy. During a half time “comfort break” I was surprised to hear the Quins fans singing “Mighty Quin” and rushed back to find our boys were back on the field running “figure of 8 passes” and apparently ready and raring to go. (Of course, they may have just been freezing to death in the changing rooms and decided to come out to keep warm.)

The second half started and, with some 42 minutes on the clock, Phil Christophers scored for Leeds Tykes and Duncan Hodge converted.
Apart from his try, Christophers did not have a great game and at one stage Prof was heard shouting,” That’s the most I’ve seen a German drop since the blitz!” My other favourite quote of the evening was the comparison between a Leeds lineout and Julian Clary.
Score 16-9 to Leeds and I prayed that Kev T’s high score prediction was not about to come true.

Andy Dunne managed to cross the line and, by converting his own try, put us back in the game on level points. Chris Bell then celebrated his return to fitness, when Christophers dropped the ball on the half way line and a neat kick enabled him to chase down the ball and put Quins ahead, 21-16. (Score board said 22-16) Despite the pathetic attempts to put Andy off, when those in the Leisure Management Box flashed their lights on and off right in front of him, he successfully converted the try to put us 23-16 ahead. (Score board went off altogether while someone dug out the abacus.)
Three tries scored in ten minutes. That Kev T knows his stuff!

Hodge, Powell and Salter were replaced by Walsh, Halford and Persico after 51 minutes and with twenty minutes to go Leeds seemed to wake up and Quins were on the back foot. Again and again Leeds came at us and set up camp just in front of our try line. They pushed, we defended.

Andy Dunne missed a penalty, we tried to score from a scrum, failed, were awarded another penalty which bounced off the posts. Perhaps those that seem bent on seeing Burkey retire will allow him to play for a little longer. Evs seemed to think so as Burkey then came off the bench to relieve Dunne. Chris Bell also went off (he’d done his bit ) and Gavin Duffy came on. Score still 23-16 and 17 minutes to go.

Quins were hanging on for grim death. Some of them were probably remembering April’s cruel turn of fate. They were not going to let that happen again and it was sheer dogged defence that kept us ahead. Not pretty, but effective. Laurent and Karl replaced Jon and Billy D and the war of attrition continued.  Just to add to the general confusion, the clock had disappeared from the scoreboard and I had no idea how much time was left.
We were apparently well into injury time when something a bit special happened, a champagne moment, in true Brian Johnston fashion.
(THIS IS WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO STAY UNTIL THE END. HEARING ABOUT IT ISN’T ENOUGH, YOU HAD TO SEE IT!): Simon Keogh intercepted a Dan Scarbrough pass and ran some 70 metres to score under the posts.

Listening to the recording of the supporters around me is like a flash back to “When Harry Met Sally” and the café scene, “Yes, YES, YES, OOH!”
Burkey duly converted. The match was over. We’d won! 30-16. The whoops of delight almost made up for my birthday disappointment last April.  The smiles on the player’s faces certainly did.  Afterwards, I asked Ben Willis whether he was pleased. “Ben, one word? Are you happy?” “Um, EXTREMELY! Extremely is an understatement, yeah after last week, Yeah!” He also asked Sleepy Hollow to take a picture of him with Andy Dunne and Simon Keogh as it was the first time the three ex-Leinster friends had started at 9, 10 and 11.

So, onto the press conference.  The Long Room was closed, so I knew it wasn’t there. Unfortunately that was all the stewards seemed to know as well, but eventually I was directed to the Captain’s Lounge and there were Phil Davies and “The Press.” Phil described the match as flat with no passion. He’d left his seat with twenty minutes to go.
“Where had he gone?” he was asked.
“For a cup of tea” was his instant reply.

Just joking; he really went down to the tunnel to try and get a feel for the game. “Very frustrating. The harder we tried, the worse we got.” “Glad the game was over.” He didn’t think the game had gone very well for either side. Quins defended well and had deserved the points.
Remembering Sleepy Hollow’s advice I tried not to look smug, but a big grin kept bursting out on my face. I like winning!

Phil oot and Evs in: “In the last quarter of an hour, we looked like a side that had lost their last two games. We played with a lot of heart but not much composure.” He was asked about Andy Dunne starting the game at fly-half. He said he’d played well in parts but had missed a couple of penalties. He had brought Paul Burke on to close out the match. Unfortunately Paul didn’t get any access to the ball but had got in some good tackles"

Evs and Scotty were soon on their way and I waited to see some of the players emerge from their dressing room. They were all very up-beat and Vossy looked and sounded much happier than after the Glaws game when I had never seen him so low. I was delighted to see that the boys would get the opportunity to celebrate their victory with a pint or two. They thoroughly deserved it. I left to find the many and various “cliques” that support Quins. They were all intermingling in the Sports Bar, united in their love of Quins and alcohol! Various splinter groups then split off to go clubbing, pubbing and currying. Those of us staying at The Headingley Lodge (excellent value and so convenient) looked forward to our free continental breakfasts arranged by Quinssa on our behalf.

So, we look forward to our game against Saints on Saturday. (Let’s hope it bears no resemblance to their very physical battle against Gloucester today. We don’t want any of that malarkey at The Stoop, thank you.) I’m back at school on Monday, ready to beg for half an hour off, a week on Friday, so I can make the trek back to Leeds again. I know the boys will do their best to make it worth my while.

So, what title did I plump for in the end, you ask? Well, this one is just for BatQuin, who will be gutted to have missed this win. (That’ll teach her to go to New York!)  “BEN AND BABS, EXTREMELY HAPPY IN LEEDS!”

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