To maintain the clear daylight between the Amateurs and Herts & Middlesex Division 2 South’s second-placed Old Abbotstonians meant that Quins should look to equal if not better the previous score.

What an effect three weeks off from league duty proved to be! And besides, no-one from Old Isleworthians had read same the script. It was a far different opposition that played eighty minutes this Saturday to the one that had been beaten so comprehensively recently.

Having said that, Quins squandered so many chances in the first half to score that it appeared that they were trying too hard to cross the line that the last pass failed. At one point it was almost risible had it not been so shambolic; from a Quins penalty 5 metres from under the opposition posts the ball was tapped and knocked on and turned over to the opposition, whereas a pushover scrum and a virtual guarantee of seven points was the intended option from the captain.

However Quins kept their nerve and refused to panic. Ross Webster put the first points on the board from a penalty and Ben Fretwell crossed the opposition line for the first try converted by Webster just a shade before half time. Webster added another penalty before the half-time whistle to turn around at 0-13.

The second half was a different affair as Wallace, who had appeared a little unsure of himself in the first half, scored two tries, one of them converted, as the Amateurs reverted to the original game strategy of moving the ball wide and testing their defence which was weakest at its width and under the high ball.

Quins were most shocked when for the first time this season they conceded a try through open play when their scorer seemed to part the defence like Moses at the Red Sea. A rude wake-up call which stunned the Amateurs momentarily.

The scrums were very evenly matched, but Quins put the use of the varied line-out to good use to ensure good control or quick, clean ball to the backs. Webster kicked well all afternoon to allow Fretwell and Matt Williams the chance to chase the ball, often hounding the opposition into unforced errors or just missing out on an unlucky bounce that was spilt but which on any other day would have been gathered at the gallop and run in for a score. Second row Tom Curry in close support of the wingers on one such move charged over from ten metres and his sheer delight at scoring, which could have been heard in Piccadilly Circus, possibly reflected the frustration some of the forwards felt throughout the game. Quins pack continues to concede penalties in the rucks for handling offences and then concede huge swathes of ground too a good kicker who punishes the errors.

Matt Williams rounded off the scoring at the end of the second half to give the Amateurs (and Old Isleworthians) a respectable scoreline of 5-35.

1. Lawrence 2. Camacho. 3. Fairweather 4. Cooper 5. Curry 6. Glanville 7. Shaw 8. Thompson 9. Wigginton 10. Webster 11. Fretwell 12. Hurst 13. Wallace 14. ? 15. Ah-Sun 16. Eaton

Tries: Fretwell, Wallace (2), Curry, Williams Conversions: Webster (2), Penalties (2)

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