We knew the outcome to the season could rest on one try or penalty. Both teams started at full tilt. Quins soaked up a lot of pressure in the first quarter, the game played predominantly in the Amateurs’ half. Despite the amateurs twice being reduced to 14 men with the referee sin-binning firstly Ross Webster, erroneously, and then scrum half Russ Wigginton, OAs could only manage to convert their possession into three points from a penalty after 25 minutes.

But after 30 minutes the balance of power shifted when Williams went on one of his trademark runs to outstrip the defensive wide cover to touch down and allow Webster to convert to give Quins a lead at half time 3-7.

All Quins had to do was to continue to dictate the game on our terms for the last 40 minutes. OAs constntly pressurised the Quins back line until cracks started to appear and handling errors occurred. The resulting pressure saw OAs retake the lead 8-7 after they scored a try with superior numbers wide on the left wing.

Quins then came back relentlessly to reverse the lead, but their supreme efforts were often blighted by some more bizarre refereeing decisions, particularly when an OA kick through into the dead-ball area, was safely touched down by Williams only for the ref to award a 5 metre scrum to the opposition.

The penalty count started to rack up against Quins. OAs edged further ahead 11-7 by converting one of them.

The sheer fatigue and exhaustion told against Quins by the end. They’d given everything and taken a (literally) physical battering from the home side. Matt Stevens was substituted at the end bearing the scars of two ‘shiners’ and the effects of concussion.

OA’s ultimate superiority was capped by a try at the end to secure them a win by 16-7. Harlequins Amateurs still top the table with the same number of points as OAs, by virtue of a superior point differential, but OAs have the game in hand over us.

We can but hope that their fortunes are upset by the likes of Uxbridge or Belsize Park in the run-in to the end of the season to secure the one automatic promotion slot.


Harlequins Amateurs
1 Lawrence 2 Camacho 3 Roberts 4 Dewar 5 Curry 6 Farrant 7 8 Thompson (V-Capt)
9 Wigginton 10 Webster (Capt.) 11 Williams 12 Hurst 13 Birbeck 14 Fretwell 15 Ah-Sun
16 Senior 17 Shepherd 18 Wallace

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