A merry band of Quins fans joined the coach, and after a few hours, we were settled in the pub for lunch and a few pre-match drinks. There was much optimism, though talking to a couple of Worcester fans, they too were cautiously optimistic. 

After finding out seats (in the top corner of the East Stand) we were ready to go. Quins ran out in their now familiar away kit, and Wayne Barnes got proceedings underway, with Quins kicking off to Worcester 

Conditions favoured Worcester in the first half, as they had the wind behind them. Unfortunately, my notes are already illegible at this point, and this wasn't helped by the sun (and the posts) in my eyes, or the gentleman in the navy beanie to my left, who obscured most of the action at the far end of the pitch! 

There seemed to be a number of lineouts (mainly awarded to and won by Quins). Worcester didn't look particularly dangerous with ball in hand, as they mostly went side-to-side, and Jordan Turner Hall put in a great tackle on a Worcester player (possibly Rico Gear). There seemed to be some Worcester obstruction on both Monye and Gommersall (not that this was picked up), and it all seemed to be a bit of a mess. 

Quins were awarded a penalty (I was busy scribbling down the proceeding passage of play, however, and I have no idea what this was for). Rather than go for the points, Quins kicked to touch (it was very windy at this point) but nothing much came of it (at least not that I could see!). 

Quins seemed to be awarded a succession of penalties, which were interrupted on the 14^th minute by a Worcester substitution. A mere three minutes later, Quins broke the deadlock by scoring the first try. I'd love to describe how De Wet Barry took the ball down the touchline, and passed to Chris Robshaw who went over, but as all I'd seen was a navy beanie, it could have been Mike Ross on a storming run for all I knew! Malone missed the conversion from the touchline, but we were ahead! Worcester 0 Quins 5.

Mike Brown fell on a dangerous ball (I thought he'd knocked it on, but if he had, Barnes hadn't seen it) and Malone booted it out. The resulting lineout wasn't straight, as Heath Quinn helpfully pointed out (in fact, he offered much advice and assistance to the ref throughout the game. Not all of it was heeded, however!). Quins were awarded the resulting scrum, and were then awarded a penalty. On 23 minutes, Gary Botha scored his first try in Quins colours. Sadly, I'm unable to describe it in any detail whatsoever, so if you bump into him at the Stoop, I'm sure he'll be delighted to talk you through it! I do know it was in the right hand corner, Malone was to miss the conversion, and Quins were not to trouble the scoreboard again.

For the remainder of the first half, Quins thwarted all Worcester's attacks and defended stoically. Brown and Strettle combined in a move which resulted in a penalty (which was missed) but which could have ended with a try. Quins finished the half positively, defending well, and pressing for the third try. 

At half time, Quins were 10-0 up, and we all felt we would kick on from there. Unfortunately, the heavens decided to open, and we weren't to play with the wind.

Quins tried to find a third try, and defended fantastically. On 57 minutes Hala Ufia came on for Nick Easter, Quins continued to defend excellently, and there was an exciting passage of play, when Strettle nearly scored that elusive third try. On 67 minutes, Mike Ruddock started to introduce his bench. Drahm was taken off, and this was to prove decisive. Quins brought on Percival for Spanghero and Fuga for Botha after 72 minutes. 

Worcester seemed to throw everything at Quins, chasing a bonus point, if not the win. At 78 minutes, Crichton scored under the posts, and converted, leaving the score 7-10. Surely after the dominance, and the excellent defence, we couldn't lose this?

We were in for a nervous final few minutes, though frustratingly we had no idea how long, as Worcester didn't have a countdown clock, or if they did, it wasn't visible to the rabble in the top corner of the East Stand!

Thankfully we held on, and were greeted by some happy players at the final whistle. I had a quick chat with Dean Richards after the game, and he told me how pleased he was with the win, as Worcester isn't an easy place to come to and win. I thought we defended magnificently, and he agreed. He said that at half time they were talking about how conditions were going to favour us in the second half, and then the rain came, but that we played the conditions well, and chose some good options.

We were all able to return home, happy with our win, a pretty good performance, and importantly, four points in the bag.

Finally, I've been giving consideration to our man of the match. Collectively, we defended well, and whilst it was hard to pick out an individual, I've decided to award my man of the match to Mike Brown.

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