Saturday 30th January 2010
Philips Arena, Deramore Park, Belfast.
Belfast Harlequins moved into the top four in AIB League 2, leapfrogging rivals D.L.S.P. with this 22 – 7 win.
Despite early morning snow flurries the match kicked off in strong sunlight with Quins electing to defend the Clubhouse end and it was the Belfast side that applied the early pressure with wing Richard Reaney slotting a penalty after 10 minutes.
Quins continued to attack and were awarded a penalty try on 15 minutes after a great scrummaging effort, not least by Adam Macklin. Reaney converted taking the score to 10 – 0.
The visitors attempted to hit back but their efforts were thwarted when center Michael Allen intercepted a loose pass and sprinted fifty meters for Quins second try, again converted by Reaney.
This left the half time score at 17 – 0 and the game appeared in the bag.
In the second half Macklin added to his fine scrummaging game with several rumbustious breaks and with Gareth Rourke and Chris McCarey, outstanding in the loose and in the lineouts the Belfast side continued to pressurise their opponents.
The breakthrough finally came on the 64th minute with William Stewart scoring a well constructed try, the conversion was missed. Quins attempted to push on for the, bonus point, fourth try but a few fumbles and bad passes meant it eluded them and D.L.S.P. had the last word with a consolation try in the 77th minute by Ken Copeland.
Quins can count themselves unlucky not to have got the forth try, particularly as their scrummaging advantage was nullified by uncontested scrums and hopefully this won’t come back to haunt them as the push on this season for that second place spot and promotion to League 1B.
Man of the Match: Adam Macklin.
Report: Derrick Crothers (Prof)
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lansdowne | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 332 | 122 | 7 | 0 | 47 |
| 2 | Bruff | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 203 | 166 | 3 | 1 | 32 |
| 3 | Bective Rangers | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 182 | 142 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
| 4 | Belfast Harlequins | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 195 | 132 | 2 | 3 | 29 |
| 5 | D.L.S.P. | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 198 | 160 | 2 | 0 | 28 |
| 6 | Old Wesley | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 192 | 180 | 3 | 1 | 28 |
Saturday 30th January 2010
Philips Arena, Deramore Park, Belfast
.
This AIB League 2 encounter kicked off in strong sunlight with Quins defending the clubhouse end, with the early morning snow flurries melting under the strong sun.
In the above match Quins elected to defend the Clubhouse and DLSP
kicked off,
the flurry of snow having melted under the strong Sun.
Suffice it to say,leading 17-0 at half-time,Quins won 4 valuable League
points
at full-time :
Quins 22 DLSP 7.
Quins scored a penalty try at 15,converted by Richard Reaney who had
kicked
a penalty at 10.At 24,Michael Allen intercepted and ran 50 metres to
score
a try converted by Reaney.
In the 2nd half William Stewart scored a well constructed third try at
64,which
was not converted.At 77 Ken Copeland scored a consolation try for DLSP,
converted by Conor Hickey.
Try as they might,Quins could not score the vital fourth-bonus-point
try.
This may cost Quins 2nd place at the end of the season and hence
promotion to
Division 1B.
It is interesting that Bective and Bruff play each other on the 27th
March.
Each side,Quins and DLSP,received a yellow card.Nevertheless after
consultation
I name Adam Macklin our man-of-the-match;not least for his
scrummaging,several
rumbustious breaks in attack and getting back to save a certain try,late
in the game.
I thought Gareth Rourke and Chris McCarey were outstanding in the loose
and in
the lineouts where the lifters excelled themselves.
A few bad passes and fumbles caused the 4th try to elude us..
Uncontested scrums did not help our cause.Alister Heatlie and Keith
Pyper
replaced Richard Lutton and Michael Allen in the 2nd half.Not used were
Alan Rankin,Tim Morton and David Creighton.
Quins started with:
15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Richard Reaney 13 Michael Allen 12 William Stewart
11 Roger Kirkwood 10 Mark Kettyle 9 Paul Marshall
1 Richard Lutton 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil
McComb(C)
6 Colin Atkinson 7 Andrew Gillespie 8 Chris McCarey.
Derrick Crothers(prof)
