By Gazz
September 15 2002

Having won both of their opening encounters at home, the Tykes travelled south knowing that a win on the road would do much to extinguish the ghosts of last season's away form. To do that they would need to beat a Harlequins side looking for their first win of the season, & already under pressure. Last seasons encounter at The Stoop was a winner takes it all affair, but there would be no time to relax for either side this time around. The Tykes travelling support had a feeling the team could do it, but was it more than a feeling?

Tykes On Tour

It was early on Saturday morning when we gathered out side the new Headingley Lodge to await the coach. Two cars, six people, all did not look well for loud cheering. A quick check of the tickets, and we discovered that yes, they had changed the departure point from the Twickenham trip, and we should have been at the South Stand car park! The security guard confirmed the bus hadn't actually arrived yet, at which point it duly appeared, stopped and let us on before continuing round the corner to collect another 16 hardy Tykes fans. One more pick up on the way and we arrived at The Stoop well ahead of kick off, proceeding to make good use of the Harlequins dazzling array of on site drinking venues.

There was just one change to the Tykes side listed in the programme. Derek Hegarty completed his recovery from the rib knock he received against the Tigers to take the field at No. 9, Alan Dickens taking his place on the bench. Strong winds were already in evidence as some of the travelling support took their seats in the wuthering heights of the South Stand (although perhaps the collection of scaffold polls and planking could be more accurately be described as a Lean, rather than a Stand!), and tried desperately to cheer as the two tribes took to the field. It was certainly breezy, and we knew we'd have to shout loud for the team to hear us - and if the wind got stronger we might be shouting Help! We'd all read the pre-match hype, but agreed that we don't believe a word they say on Sky nowadays anyway.

Quins Take Early Lead

The match started well for Tykes, and despite an early knock on from Scabs, we found ourselves with the first shot at goal inside 3 minutes. Braam's form was slightly adrift from last week, however and his kick, admittedly against the wind, went right of the posts and fell short. Quins struck back and after a 5 minute spell of pressure, Paul Burke took his first chance well, to put the home side 3-0 up after 12 minutes.

Tykes Hit Back

This seemed to spur on the Tykes, who immediately went to war. Smooth handling found Diego out wide, but he was eventually bundled into touch inside the Quins 22. After further pressure from Tykes, Hegarty neatly switched play to the left, and a chip through by Van Straaten was pounced on by Scabs, who showed his blonde over blue look hasn't robbed him of any pace to put Tykes in the lead after 18 minutes. The conversion made it 3-7, although it took some time for the scoreboard operator to work this out!

Hard But Fair

Tykes enjoyed yet more pressure inside the Quins half, and were rewarded with another BVS attempt after 22 minutes. This one he calmly slotted home to make it 3-10. This time it was Quins who fired themselves up as they looked to turn it on again, and the match really heated up. First Dan Hyde went off for a blood injury, being replaced by Jimmy Ponton, and then Gordon Ross took a knock to the head, which he took a minute or two to shake off. The game never looked like losing control, though, as both sides fought hard but fair for possession.

Quins Fight Back

An apparent moment of madness, however, saw Paul Burke put a Quins free kick straight into touch, with the line out given to Tykes, back level with where he kicked from. Despite this, Quins looked again to attack and looked dangerous when a chip through seemed to find space, but George Harder beat everybody for pace, gathering the ball and taking it over the try line for a scrum 5. From this however, Quins broke again, with Keith Wood finding Viliame Satala on his right shoulder and the Quins centre crashed though for a try on the half-hour. Burke converted to draw the scores level. Two minutes later, with Quins pressing again, Burke found space and let fire a crisp drop goal from 25 metres to put the home side ahead again 13-10, a lead the held going into half-time with Braam missing a let penalty chance to even things up.

Second Try For Scabs

The second half saw Ross stay in the changing rooms, apparently not fully recovered from his knock, with Chris Hall coming on to the wing, BVS moving to fly-half, and George Harder coming in to centre. The wind started to play more of a part, with Braam missing two early kicks to touch, but a characteristic break from Diego, showing just what pace he has in those hot legs was rewarded with excellent support. With only 4 minutes played in the second half good handling saw the ball shipped along the line with George Harder putting Scabs through for his second try of the match and fourth of the season. Braam begins to find his kicking range and converts to make it 13-17. Quins try to hit back immediately, but Burkes drop goal attempt comes off one of his own players and from the ensuing scrimmage, Tykes are awarded a penalty. It may be 60 meters out, but with the wind at his back, Braam goes for goal. Ignoring the bad tempered booing which has greeted all of his attempts so far, Braam shows that his kicking is a kind of magic, and the ball flies clean and straight - 13-20.

Seesaw Match

Three minutes later Burke makes it 16-20 with another penalty, but the Tykes come straight back at them. Securing good line out ball again from Chris Murhpy, the pack drive 15 yards. Three more drives, and Tykes are rewarded with another penalty, which Braam converts to make it 16-23. Quins hit back again, and after a quick tap penalty is recycled, Scabs gathers the kick through and is bundled into touch 2 yards from his own line. Quins can't make anything of it, however, and the ball is cleared. Tykes turn to press again, and the ball breaks to Scabs who chips through into the Quins 22. The ball is fielded, and everyone assumes that a mark has been given, however, referee Rob Dickson waves play on, and the ball is eventually put into touch with the line out to Quins.

Mather Makes It Three

Quins retain possession, and break out. A period of pressure on Tykes now ensues and the ball beaks to Will Greenwood who runs in past the flailing arms of Mike Shelley to touch down and bring Quins right back into things. The conversion from Burke made it 23-23 with only 10 minutes left. With Stewart Campbell now on for the hard working Chris Murphy, Tykes look to hit back again. Another drive, more good recycling and Tristan Davies breaks up the middle and looks odds on for his first try, but a sledgehammer tackle brings him down only 5 metres short. The ball is recycled again, but despite his best efforts George Harder has nowhere to run and can't break through the Quins defence, although Tykes are rewarded with another penalty, which Braam slots home to make it 23-26 with only 5 minutes left. The Tykes enjoyed the bulk of the possession after that, and continued pressure brought a scrum to Quins well inside the Home 22. Tykes drove through, but quite how the ball ended up on Cammie Mather's side is anyone guess, but he picked it up and dove over for Tykes third try, which Braam converts to make it 23-33. Quins now know they need to score to secure a bonus point, but with the match now entering injury time they push too hard. The ball breaks to their talisman hooker, but it's not his day, knock on Wood. Tykes secure their third straight win, and - more importantly - their first on the road, putting them top of the table (at least for the night).

The match was tense, and seemed to be over very quickly, but a satisfying result - another one bites the dust and all that, and we headed back to the bar, where we were entertained by a live band and a real live dancing queen (we suspect the guy was on his stag party).

The Long & Winding Road Home

The trip back was slightly more eventful, but the main topic of discussion strayed quickly from whether or not Quins had finally met their waterloo and onto the apparent lack of lighting in the coach toilet - although it was agreed that there was certainly more room than had been on the Twickenham trip!

A phone call to say the M1 was closed ahead, and we diverted to the A1, although our driver was now running out of hours. This wasn't helped by further diversions around a closed section of the A1, but eventually a replacement driver was taken on at Barnsley, before the coach finally wound its way back to Headingley at about 11.30, only to find the team - who had left well after we had - had beaten us back!

A Perfect Day?

A perfect day? Well, it wasn't the prettiest game of rugby you're going to see this season, and if anything it was Tykes worst performance so far. But it was a performance they would have been delighted with last season. Everyone played their socks of, and credit must go to Harlequins for making it such a hard fought and seesaw battle. Arguably, Tykes badly missed the mid-field marshalling of Gordon Ross in the second half, and Braam has looked far more comfortable at inside centre than at stand-off. Regan was his usual rebel rouser self, whilst Shelley showed he was the leader of the pack. Diego's runs were sheer poetry in motion, but this should be a game that Phil Davies and John Callard can take a lot of lessons from. As Cammie Mather said to us after the game "There's room for improvement", although George Harder did confess if felt "Good" to win three from three, whilst Scabs eventually admitted that it felt "Fantastic".

Harlequins’ coach Mark Evans summed up his feelings by confessing the result "ruins my weekend". The Quins fans pre-match confidence had been high, and they had appeared to adopt a "can't happen here" attitude. All that has changed now, and when they look at the results and the table tonight they will surely read 'em and weep. For Quins its London Irish up next, and what is surely a must win game for them. Tykes meanwhile seem to have nothing to fear and entertain The Sharks at Headingley. Let's hope one great thing can lead to another, and if they show the same desire to win they've shown so far, they can make it 4 in a row. Imagine what that would feel like...

If you've any comments on the match or have a different view of the day, then please post your comments on the MB!