Belfast Harlequins RFC Club Notes: IV XV Defy Conditions at Newforge to Run in Six Tries: Report + Pictures

Three tries in each half saw the 4’s take the points at a rain drenched and rather bleak Newforge on Saturday. It was a credit to the grounds staff that the pitch was playable given the amount of rain that had fallen over the previous 24 hours but, ignoring the elements, Quins produced another solid attacking display and an even more impressive defensive performance to limit a large and robust PSNI team to two penalties.
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Playing into the wind in the first half, the 4’s started well and with 5 minutes gone, debut boy Ben Craig received a pass on the PSNI 22 after some slick handling by the backs and sprinted round his man to go over in the corner. Using the elements and their significant weight advantage, the PSNI came back at Quins with purpose and, but for some gutsy defence would have crossed the Quins line however all they had to show from their raid into the Quins half was a penalty to make the score 3-5. This spurred the 4s on and as the heavens opened the forwards did what they are good at and rucked clinically time and time again to give Tom some great ball to feed McC who was making his first appearance at 10 (Scotty being unavailable due to some feeble excuse). Paul had another great game; he kicked, ran and tackled all day and distributed the ball very well to the returning G Watson and to Fergal in the centre. Thanks to some excellent tidying up at full-back by jack lavery and some thundering runs from Matty Dass and Fergal (my knee is sore) Carey up the middle, along with some blistering pace from Mat on the wing, Quins got into a great position in the opposition half and this resulted in McC collecting a pass in front of the posts beating three men and sliding over. Big Jack slotted the conversion to make it 3-12 but again the PSNI refused to lie down and after another foray into the Quins half they kicked a penalty to make it 6-12. Nearing the end of the half a great No8 pick up by Harry made a lot of ground and from the resulting ruck Pete Brown crashed over for his first of two tries to leave the half time score 6-17.

With the wind at their backs the 4’s looked like they were going to be in control of the second period however the PSNI were never going to make it easy and showed some great determination time and again threatening to break the Quins line, however the 4’s defence held firm and time and time again the boys put their bodies on the line to keep their opponents at bay. The second half was much like the first with McC moving ball well and kicking when necessary but with Matty Dass bludgeoning his way up the pitch accompanied by Gardiner, Fergal, Harry, Pete and Ian Scott the platform was set for the 4’s to run in a further 3 tries. Pete Brown scored his second of the day after a great handling move down the left to make it 6-22, Tom Price scored in the right hand corner and with a superb conversion by Jack the score read 6-29 and with 5 minutes remaining, Jack completed a man-of-the-match performance by going over for a try under the posts which he converted to make it 6-36 at the final whistle. For the record AJ replaced Mat Corcos at half time, James Parish replaced Fergal Carey (as his knee was really, really sore) and in the last ten minutes Stephen William Montgomery made a cameo appearance in the forwards, battling manfully for every ball.

Another quality defensive performance set the platform for this impressive victory. Running in 6 tries on a day when most were sitting by a fire is a great achievement. The forwards were excellent both in set pieces and in the loose with the “old campaigner” Malseed yet again defying the numbers on his birth certificate and shifting up a gear from a canter to a trot on three visible occasions. Ian Scott and Paul Gardiner punched well above their weight, Fergal Carey ran like a man possessed and Harry, Matty and Kieron put in a huge amount of work all afternoon. G Watson linked well with McC and Fergal M at centre who tackled like his life depended on it and Ben had a great debut, unlucky not to come away with two tries. Pete Brown (sporting an “exceptionally pointy” scrum hat will not be short of panto work as he looked like one of the seven dwarfs to be honest) took his two tries well, but for a great performance at full back coupled with a short appearance in the pack jack lavery was awarded man-of-the-match.

Next Saturday it’s the 1st round of the McCambley Cup with the “happy bus” leaving the clubhouse at 1030. Anyone willing to come and support the 4’s will be very welcome and we promise to return you to your loved ones by Christmas.