By Old King's No. 8
December 6 2005

Saturday saw Quins’ first league trip to Goldington Road since 25 January 2000, a match which saw the visitors edge past Bedford 25-28 in the Premiership. The build-up for this most recent encounter promised an equally tough challenge for Harlequins.

Going into the game with ten league wins from ten on the back of a glorious 50-6 drubbing of Cornish Pirates, Bedford away was regarded as potentially the most difficult obstacle facing Quins in their bid to regain Premiership status. The Blues had enjoyed a flying start to the season following their opening draw with Otley, defeating their next eight opponents. However, that unbeaten run was finally brought to an end by Plymouth Albion two weeks earlier: ominously, the team Harlequins travel to face in their final game before Christmas.

The fans certainly expected to witness a superb match and demand for tickets was fierce. Despite erecting a large temporary stand to accommodate the Quins masses, bringing the ground capacity to 5,500, Goldington Road was sold out weeks in advance of kick-off. With tickets like gold-dust, rumours abounded that they had changed hands for as much as £300.

The record crowd arrived to find the ground damp from the morning’s rain, although the weather had improved significantly into the afternoon and by 3.00pm the sky had largely cleared, leaving a soft pitch but preventing any chance of the sort of downpour that destroyed the match away at Coventry as a rugby spectacle. From the Charles Wells stand, a faint rainbow appeared to hang over the temporary Harlequins Stand, lending another appropriate splash of colour to that corner of the ground. A good omen perhaps?

Quins seemed to think so. The Blue’s clearance from Mehrtens’s kick-off gave found touch inside Bedford territory, Vos collected the ball and the resulting pressure on the home side’s 22 produced a penalty which Mehrtens had no trouble converting. 0-3 and only two minutes on the clock. A Bedford knock-on from the restart handed possession back to Quins, who again piled into the Blues’ 22, recycling the ball well. Despite some fearsome defending, Bedford couldn’t hold Harlequins out for long and when So’oailo shipped the ball left Keogh’s pace took him over the line and back under the posts to give Mehrtens an easy conversion. 0-10, four minutes gone and things were looking good.

Despite giving away a penalty for off-side (proving that the referee knew what off-side was), quins continued to play fast, open rugby and more line-out ball from Miall saw first Monye then So’oailo tearing up the middle of the pitch deep into the Blues’ half. When a Harlequins scrum on Bedford’s 22 was collapsed, advantage was played until Monye was brought down just short of the line. The referee went back for the penalty and Mehrtens’s impeccable boot put another three points on the board to put the score at 0-13 with 11 minutes played.

If anyone thought it was going to be a repeat of the Pirates match, Bedford’s players and fans had other ideas as the home support brought their team back to life. Despite having been played out of the game for the first 10 minutes, Bedford began to show their quality to come back at Harlequins. When Fuga was penalized for throwing straight to Miall in the line-out, a quick tap-and-go from the Blue’s monolithic loosehead, Soane Tonga’uiha, produced some serious forwards momentum. Tonga’uiha stood out for the Blues throughout the match, making huge territorial gains with his powerful runs, often requiring two or three Harlequins to stop him. Bedford were able to use their position to pressurize the Quins line but, although Fuga’s throw to the shortened line went awry, Duffy (playing in the centre in the absence of the injured Deane and Greenwood) was able to clear the ball to safety.

Bedford’s hard work appeared to be paying off as Harlequins’ discipline began to fall apart. The Blues’ full back, Mark Harris, missed a penalty opportunity inside the Quins 10-metre line on 17 minutes, but Bedford maintained the pressure and Vos gave away a penalty deep in his half and earned a ticking-off for his trouble. Bedford went for the corner but regretted their decision instantly as Miall stole the ball for the umpteenth time this season. However, Harlequins took no advantage of the reprieve and duly gave away another penalty, this time right in front of the posts. Harris made no mistake with this one and Bedford were off the mark at 3-13.

The penalty seemed to spur Quins back into action. Mehrtens, who held Quins together throughout and produced an exceptional all-round performance in the face of adversity, hoisted a kick from the half-way line which was spilled by Bedford. Easter picked up from the back of the scrum and although the subsequent chip through was collected well, Keogh was all over his defender, who obligingly botched his clearance. More good phases from the line-out saw Harlequins looking set for another try, only halted when the Blues’ number 11, Mike Staten, killed the ball on his own line and was given his marching orders. However, the catch and drive in the corner came to nothing and a scrum was conceded to Bedford.

Bedford broke away from their line and some quality handling saw them back up to the half-way line. Again, Quins were penalized for killing the ball, and then penalized again at the following line-out for pulling down. This gave Bedford another attacking line-out on Quins’ 5 metre line, but their forwards could find no way through and ultimately gave away a penalty themselves. Mehrtens put the Quins line-out on the 10 metre line and followed it up with a superb cross-field kick to find the opposite touch inside the Bedford 22. The Quins line-out was on the ball again, Evans stealing this time, and Easter driving towards the line. Efficient rucking saw the ball made available quickly and Mehrtens took advantage of Staten’s absence to send Williams in for the try with a beautiful miss-pass. With Mehrtens providing a goal-kicking masterclass, the conversion was a formality and Quins went into the break 3-20 to the good with Bedford back to 15 men.

Having bumped into Mark Evans at half-time, I took the opportunity to ask him how he felt about the first 40 minutes for this report. Mark said that he was pleased that we’d retained possession so well in the first 16 minutes, he thought the line-out was working very well and Mehrtens was playing superbly. Although Bedford looked dangerous with the ball the defence was holding up well, and 3-20 up at half time away to Bedford was quite satisfactory.

Unfortunately, the second half began in horrendous fashion from a Quins perspective. Another penalty at the line-out saw the Blues on the attack deep into the opposing half. More impressive handline from the Bedford backs saw their 14, Craig Moir, go in at the corner. Harris landed the touchline conversion to bring the score to 10-20 with only four minutes of the second half gone.

Worse was to come as Vos was shown the yellow card for killing the ball, but inconsistent handling from Bedford wasted the penalty and Mehrtens was on hand to effect the clearance. Good work from Monye and Keogh put Quins back in an attacking position and when Bedford gave away another penalty on their 22 Mehrtens punished them again. 10-23 on 50 minutes.

Bedford then made Quins pay for the absence of Vos as their forwards piled into the ruck, eliciting chants of “off-side” from the incensed Harlequins Stand as neither the referee nor the touch judge took action. The result was a turn-over for Bedford and a try for their lock, John Philips. Harris made the conversion again to bring Bedford right back into contention at 17-23.

Vos returned to the pitch shortly thereafter and immediately Quins were (perhaps belatedly) awarded a penalty for off-side. Miall won the ball from the line-out on half-way and the replenished Quins pack drove up the field. Bedford’s try-scorer, Philips, was sent to the bin for a fracas with So’oailo and Mehrtens was accurate for the fifth time, extending the score to 17-26 with 58 minutes gone.

Keogh was penalized from the restart, but Harris missed a second penalty attempt leaving the Blues nine points adrift going into the last quarter. Both sides effected substitutions, with Harder and Robshaw coming on for Monye and Sherriff respectively. Indiscipline from the Blues combined with the numerical advantage enabled Quins to exert more pressure on the Bedford line, but nothing came of it. Nevertheless, the Quins line-out continued to produce plenty of possession for Quins, but neither the powerful running of Harder and Masson nor the cheeky boot of Mehrtens was able to offer any telling penetration. The return of Philips shored up the Bedford lines, and the Blues were ultimately rewarded with a bonus point when another penalty was conceded on the Quins’ 22 which Harris was able to convert, leaving the final score at 20-26.

Bedford’s 12, Emyr Lewis, was awarded man of the match although, from a Harlequins perspective, there can be no doubt that Mehrtens deserves that honour.

The win sees the unbeaten league run reach 11 matches, and with seven bonus points producing a total of 51 league points, Quins are sitting pretty at the top of the table. Only Plymouth and London Welsh stand in the way of a perfect first half of the season, and Plymouth especially promises to be a particularly stern test. If Quins are to come away from Devon with four points they would do well to deal with the uncharacteristic indiscipline which enabled Bedford to fight their way back into the match and, indeed, out-score Quins in the second half 17-6. Nevertheless, a win’s a win, and another significant step has been taken towards the Premiership.

Many thanks to all the fans and staff at Goldington Road who made the day so enjoyable, and for the incredible pork rolls. Particular thanks go to Ingrid, the landlady of the superb Ship Inn on St Cuthbert’s Street who made us all very welcome both before and after the match.

NEC Harlequins
Ceri Jones, Tani Fuga, Ricky Nebbett, Jim Evans, Simon Miall, Andre Vos, Luke Sherriff (Christopher Robshaw ,63 mins), Nick Easter, Steve So’oialo, Andrew Mehrtens, Ugo Monye (George Harder ,63 mins), Tajiv Masson, Gavin Duffy, Simon Keogh, Tom Williams.
Replacements: James Hayter, Lorne Ward, Kevin Burke, Christopher Robshaw (Luke Sherriff ,63 mins), Adrian Jarvis, Mike Brown, George Harder (Ugo Monye ,63 mins)
Scorers: Tries: Simon Keogh, Tom Williams. Conversions: Mehrtens (2). Penalties: Mehrtens (4).

Bedford Blues
Soane Tonga'uiha, Chris Johnson, John Brooks, Jon Phillips, Arthur Brenton, Nic Strauss, Adam Kettle, Junior Paramore (Shaun Brady ,66 mins), Dom Malone (Alex Page ,74 mins), Ali Hepher, Mike Staten (Liam Roberts ,66 mins), Emyr Lewis, Matt Allen, Craig Moir, Mark Harris.
Replacements: David Ward, Matt Volland, Marc Comb, Shaun Brady (Junior Paramore ,66 mins), Alex Page (Dom Malone ,74 mins), Tom Luke, Liam Roberts (Mike Staten ,66 mins)
Scorers: Tries: Jon Phillips, Craig Moir. Conversions: Mark Harris (2). Penalties: Mark Harris (2).

Final score, 20-26.