By AlanQuin
November 7 2005

A very small crowd, probably less than 1000, saw Harlequins dispose of Sedgley Park, who prefer to be called Sedgley Tigers now, from the Powergen National Trophy by 13 to 61 points.

It was a scrappy game in which the first half forward battle, which ended 13 – 21, became a rout as Quins ran in six second half tries and 40 more unanswered points.

As almost every opposing team has done this season, Sedgley Park came at Quins hard and fast seeking to use sheer physicality to impose their game plan. A penalty after two minutes when Quins strayed offside on their twenty-two metre line after the first line-out allowed Ian Voortman to put the first points on the board. Park continued to press and only four minutes later Shaun Woof charged down Andrew Mehrtens clearance kick almost under the posts allowing him to score an easy try which was equally easily converted to leave Quins trailing by 10 point to nil.

Quins’ forwards began to exert pressure and soon found themselves camped on their opponents line after a drive which had been stopped just short. From the ruck Kevin Burke reached over the pile of bodies to score Quins’ first try which Mehrtens duly converted.

From the restart Park kicked the ball over the try-line and conceded a scrum on the half-way line and then a penalty from the scrum. Deliberately knocking the ball away earned the Park No. 7 and captain, Ponton, a yellow card. The penalty when taken resulted in a good attacking line-out close to the Park line on the left and from the throw Kevin Burke came round the tail of the line to score his second try and the successful conversion put Quins into the lead for the first time after a quarter of an hour. 10 – 14.

Quins now increased the pressure on their opponents. Another attacking line-out from a penalty might have brought another score but the grubber kick through was intercepted and knocked on by a defender. The ensuing scrum was pulled down as it began to move the few metres to the try-line and the referee immediately awarded a penalty try which was easily converted by Mehrtens. 10 – 21.

A penalty kick to Sedgley Park, when Tom Williams was adjudged to have failed to release in the tackle, allowed Voortman to add another three points for the home team. That ended their scoring for the afternoon and they never really threatened again although Voortman failed with an optimistic penalty kick from 45 metres.

Park did have a series of attacking line-outs as time began to run out but they were well defended and cleared. Quins might have had another score when a fine break by Tom Williams saw his kick through for Harder reached by the defending full-back first.

That Quins had changed their approach for the second half was clear as greater fluency of passing and the ball being kept in hand was evident from the start. After only five minutes a cross kick by Mehrtens to the right wing saw Tom Williams take the ball and easily beat his tackler to score in the right corner. Andrew Mehrtens converted from the touchline. 10 – 28.

Five minutes later the Quins backs attacked again with Will Greenwood on the break finding Keogh at speed on the wing and his inside pass to George Harder saw him cross under the posts for the try. The conversion made the score 13 – 35.

Both sides now began to introduce replacements as the game entered the final quarter. Quins brought on Mike Worsley for Ceri Jones, James Inglis for Simon Miall and Tom Guest for Nick Easter. A scrum was just about to be set and from it an error by the Sedgley scrum-half saw the ball bobble free in space and Tom Guest, with his first touch of the ball, was able to pick up and just drop over the line for the easiest of tries. 13 – 42.

Five minutes later as Quins again ran the ball, a kick through by George Harder was reached by a speeding Keogh who just touched down before the ball went dead. This time Mehrtens missed the kick from the touchline on the left as it faded across the face of the goal. 13 – 47. That was the last of Mehrtens as he was replaced by Gavin Duffy with Tom Williams moving up to fly-half for the last quarter of an hour.

The game had been effectively over as a contest shortly after the start of the half. Quins passing became ever more extravagant and more penetrating and even poor passes brought results. One such which had not reached him properly was picked up by Simon Keogh who was over the line like a flash for his second try. Tom Williams converted from in front of the posts. 13 – 54.

Quins continued to run the ball and Gavin Duffy showed what the round ball game might have lost as he dribbled a ball at speed down the touch line only for it to bounce sideways into touch with one more short kick to the try-line.

Almost the best try of the day was reserved for the last as with the Quins backs on the attack Tom Williams fashioned a superb little chip over the defensive line which Will Greenwood running through caught under the posts for a simple touchdown. To Williams again converted to bring the final score to 13 – 61.

There is little doubt that when Quins start to run with the ball they have both pace, skill and penetration which brought six tries in the second half and augers well for a five point haul next week in the league game. It was good to see the return from injury of Harder, Worsley and Greenwood and also to see James Inglis make his First XV debut. Tom Williams had a good spell at fly half and is clearly an able support for that position.


NEC Harlequins:
15. Tom Williams, 14. George Harder, 13. Will Greenwood, 12. Jordan Turner-Hall, 11. Simon Keogh, 10. Andrew Mehrtens, 9. Ian Vass, 1. Ceri Jones, 2. Jimmy Richards, 3. Lorne Ward, 4. Kevin Burke, 5. Simon Miall, 6. Nick Easter, 7. Chris Robshaw, 8. Tony Diprose (c).
Replacements: 16. James Hayter (Richards 72), 17. Mike Worsley (Jones 55), 18. James Inglis (Miall 55), 19. Tom Guest (Easter 55), 20. Luke Sherriff, 21. Mike Brown (Keogh 68), 22. Gavin Duffy (Mehrtens 60).

Scorers: Tries: Burke (2), penalty, Williams, Harder, Guest, Keogh (2), Greenwood. Conversions: Mehrtens (6), Williams (2)


Sedgeley Tigers:
15. Chris Hall, 14. Jon Feeley, 13, Shaun Woof, 12. Ian Voortman, 11. Danny McGee, 10. Richard Hopkinson, 9. Chris Wilkinson, 1, Gareth Roberts, 2. Richard Oxley, 3. Gerallt Evans, 4. Chris Rowe, 5. Erik Lund, 6. Richard Senior, 7. Jimmy Ponton (c), 8. Sam Anania
Replacements: 16. Phil Gazzola, 17. Paul Keys, 18. Petrus du Plessis, 19. Tim Fourie, 20. Jon Skurr, 21. Dave McCormack, 22. Mike Peters

Scorers: Tries: Woof. Conversion: Voortman. Penalties: Voortman (2)


Match Officials:
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Touch judges: Chris Sharp, Martin Buck