A week ago against Bristol, Luveniyali’s pile of missed kicks didn’t matter as a try count of five to one made it an easy victory. Before this match there was a lot of concern that Quins would struggle to win tight games if they did not profit from penalties. So it proved.

Dean Richards normally handles his few words with great care in post match interviews but he was obviously incensed by the 8-0 penalty count in the home team’s favour in the second half and made no attempt to hide his anger at Dean Ryan’s conversation with referee Rob Debney as the team’s went in at half time. “The referee bottled it,” said Richards.

Quins were certainly pinged to Kingsholm Come in the second half and consequently did little more than defend as the home side, roared on by The Shed, tore into them.

The fightback started with two Walker penalties. Then, after Skinner was yellow carded, a Walker drop goal was swiftly followed by Strokosch’s long-range burst to the line, also converted. As with a lot of the Debney’s decisions, it was not obvious what offence Skinner had been penalised for. His signals throughout the game were not clear from where I stood.

The score had moved from 5-13 to 21-13 and the game was effectively over with 15 minutes still to go. However Malone gave Quins hope soon afterwards with a try after Vainikolo made a hash of his clearance. Malone dusted himself off to add the two points and make it 21-20 but it had come very much against the run of play. Barkley landed another penalty and Quins had more backs to the wall defence to do before a relieved Gloucester support counted down the final seconds and the ball was booted out.

It all started so promisingly on a glorious sunny day. Quins found themselves 10-0 up after just 14 minutes as Mike Brown and Danny Care scored tries, both from dithering Gloucester defence.

Malone, who had been given his first shot at goal early on from almost the halfway line, had a second penalty closer in after 10 minutes. It hit the posts and when Gloucester failed to pick up the rebound the Quins pack piled in, releasing Strettle before Care gave Brown the scoring pass. There was almost complete silence, hardly disturbed by the small Quins support trying to make themselves heard. The Shed soon broke it though, with joyous ‘eeyore’ chants as the reasonably straightforward conversion chance went wide.

Straight from the restart Robshaw made a big break up the middle which Gloucester just about stopped. However a minute or two later, a trademark garryowen and chase from Brown caused Gloucester more trouble and this time Danny Care broke away down the left to score. However, Malone made another poor stab at his kick and a precious 10 point lead could have been a commanding 17.

At this point Gloucester woke up and started to put build pressure. Easter was everywhere in defence making big hits all over the pitch. Jordan Turner-Hall also had a big defensive game in midfield, making sure Tindall and Barkley got very little space.

However after sustained Gloucester attacks Olly Morgan scored out on the left wing. Walker borrowed Molly’s boots and badly hooked his conversion wide.

From the restart Monye made a nuisance of himself among the Gloucester pack who could not clear it up and conceded an easy penalty in front of their posts. Malone gratefully put it over to make the score 5-13 after 26 minutes, which was how it stayed until half time.

Harlequins will be disappointed not to have got more from the match but that is a mark of their real progress since their return to the Premiership. Two years ago, their first away trip saw them crushed by Wasps. Last year they took the game to Gloucester with four early tries but were eventually overcome. This year, a win was again definitely within their abilities. The defence battled all day but there was not enough possession in the second half to hold out the home side.

Nevertheless, the way the home crowd counted down the clock and then celebrated their narrow win, they knew they had been in a tough match.

A final word about my first trip to The Shed. I had been led to believe that it could be an intimidating experience for the away fan but it was a lot of fun. There was good banter, plenty of noise and friendly handshakes all round at the end of the match. It’s worth repeating here the words of the Gloucester fan behind me who made a point of saying: “Thanks very much for coming, make sure you bring more of you next year.” Looking forward to it already.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• 22nd September: Quinssa Learn the ELVs Evening