By AlanQuin
March 21 2006

Andrew Mehrtens, in imperious form, provided a superb exhibition of fly-half play as Harlequins ran in six tries to trounce Bath United by 49 points to 8 at The Recreation Ground in the Guinness A League.

With five conversions and three penalties successfully put between the posts despite difficult angles a blustery wind as well as superb kicking from hand and excellent and rapid distribution and control, the fly half gave a masterly performance which it was a privilege to watch.

He was aided by the young Quins backs who ran, tackled, passed and scored freely and skilfully with invention and flair.  The forwards too were mobile and skilful and well led by George Robson, captain for the night.  By contrast Bath, with many players with Premiership experience and led by Matt Perry, were pedestrian and predictable.  As the match progressed their set piece began to fail in the face of Quins’ pressure and both line-out and scrum failed to deliver adequate possession or quality ball.

It took only two minutes for Quins to open the scoring. A good attack with quick passing and handling saw Darren Clayton cut through to score the first try in the left corner. A fine conversion from the touchline left Quins in the lead 0 – 7.  Bath tried hard to hit back and from a penalty found a good touch deep in the Harlequin twenty-two.  However, the line-out was stolen and a tremendous kick from Mehrtens took play 80 metres back into Bath territory.  Bath continued to press and their first score came from a penalty on the Quins’ ten metre line which Ryan Davis kicked accurately to reduce the lead to 3 – 7

Harlequins returned to the attack with backs and forwards combining and with a good thrust by Robson to within a few metres of the try-line.  The ball was recycled and Mehrtens fine miss pass to his right found Tosh Masson who jinked through to score.  Once again the conversion was good and the score, after eleven minutes,  was 3 -14.

Bath’s attempted ripostes ended in unforced errors with poor passes and handling and a general lack of penetration.  A fine break by Masson  from the pressure being exerted by Bath saw him looking desperately for support and losing the ball in contact as he failed to see the defender’s tackle.  Another excellent move and a good run down the wing by Charlie Amesbury was stopped short of the line and a penalty conceded for failing to release.  Shortly after Quins had a scrum on the Bath twenty-two metre line and from an offence at the scrum Mehrtens, presumably feeling in need of kicking practice, slotted another three points. 3 – 17 after twenty-four minutes.  Three minutes later Mehrtens kicked successfully again, from a more difficult position, to increase the lead to 3 – 20.

Bath continued to try to retaliate but their general lack of invention and pace added to unforced errors only assisted Harlequins in dominating play.  As the half drew to an end, another excellent attack with the ball moved right and then left with quick hands saw Kiba Richards exploit a two on one situation to score. The conversion from wide out was successful.  Almost immediately from the restart Quins were again on the attack and again quick hands saw Kiba Richards score his second try in as many minutes.  The successful conversion ended the half with Harlequins having gained the bonus point and in the lead by 3 points to 34.

With only one minute elapsed from the start of the second half, Mehrtens continued his kicking practice with a third penalty and his eighth successful kick at goal out of eight attempts.  He continued to push Bath back with fine deep accurate touch kicks.   Shortly afterwards Mehrtens was replaced by Duncan James with Ian Vass moving to fly-half.  Then another fine backs move saw Charlie Amesbury score in the corner. James missed with the conversion attempt. 3 – 42 after 12 minutes in the second half.

Bath again increased their pressure and for almost the first time in the match threatened the Harlequin try line.  A strong drive by the Bath forwards was stoutly defended and although they finally crossed the line the ball was held up.  The following scrum was destroyed by the Quins forwards who won the ball against the head.  The clearance gave Bath an attacking lineout about fifteen metres out but Quins stole the ball and an excellent break saw Masson just put his foot in touch as he wriggled clear of a tackle.  Another fine run on the opposite side of the pitch by Charlie Amesbury met a similar fate just short of the try line.

As the match neared its end further Quins pressure saw Ian Vass sidestep past two defenders to score under the posts and Duncan James converted.  A last ditch Bath attack finally created an overlap on the right and a consolation try for Bath scored by Dan Smith, The conversion failed and the final whistle ended Bath’s misery with the score 8 - 49.

This was a commanding, skilful and entertaining performance by the young Harlequins aided by some superb contributions from an old master.  With Gloucester failing to achieve a bonus point against Bristol, Harlequins now lead the southern section of the league by three points with two matches to play.

TEAMS

BATH UNITED
15 Matt Perry (Capt), 14 Lee Best, 13 Tom Cheeseman, 12 Ryan Davis, 11 Ian Davey, 10 George Hughes, 9 Billy Fulton, 1 Christian Loader, 2 Chris Brooker, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 4 Rob Fidler, 5 Dan Smith, 6 Jonny Faamatuainu, 7 James Scaysbrook, 8 Gary Holmes
Replacements: Robbie Dugard, Fraser Cliverd, Mark Lilley, Jack Bentall, Ben Mercer, Mike Baxter, Mike Mangeolles, P Butler.

HARLEQUINS
15. Charlie Amesbury, 14. Henry Barrett, 13. Tosh Masson, 12. Mel Deane, 11. Kiba Richards, 10. Andrew Mehrtens, 9. Ian Vass, 1. Aston Croall, 2. Agustin Costa Repetto, 3. Mark Lambert, 4. James Inglis, 5. George Robson, 6. Pablo Bouza. 7. Darren Clayton. 8. Tom Guest
Replacements: 16. Alex Rogers, 17. Lorne Ward, 18. Luke Sherriff, 19. Tony Diprose, 20. Duncan James, 21. Jordan Turner-Hall, 22. Ugo Monye, 23. Mike Brown

Scorers
BATH:  Try: Smith; Pen: Davis
HARLEQUINS:  Tries: Clayton, Masson, Kiba Richards 2, Amesbury, Vass; Conversions:  Mehrtens 5, James 1; Pen: Mehrtens 3

Referee:  Roy Maybank (RFU)

Attendance: 700 approx