It was clear that they were not going to be the cannon-fodder that Quintin had been the week before. Punches started to be thrown by the Park forwards and it was clear that players would be leaving the field prematurely through injury throughout the game.

Quins played the more fluent game from the outset and controlled the ball well up front in the forwards, putting together several phases of fluent rucking and mauling. So it was no surprise when Matt Stevens picked up the ball from a ruck and drove through the defence to score Quins only try of the game. This was scant reward for Quins who spent 95% of the first half in Park’s territory and yet failed to convert territorial and tactical supremacy into a wider margin of points.

After 29 minutes, Tony Shepherd replaced Andy Lawrence after the prop picked up an injury from a knee in the back. Park then missed a chance to close the score from a close-range penalty and Quins looked to have stretched the lead when Thompson took a short pass and dove over the Park line. Several Park players scrambled around and seemed to place a hand under the ball and protest vehemently, which somehow convinced the referee that the ball hadn’t been grounded when it seemed that a try would have been the correct decision.

The Amateurs’ skipper Ross Webster extended their lead by converting a penalty on 40 minutes after which James Dewar was replaced when he damaged his ribs. Park missed another penalty on the stroke of half-time to allow the Amateurs to turn round with a narrow and uncomfortable 8-0 lead.

The second half was only 5 minutes old when Quins suffered their third injury blow. Wootton fielded a ball from a Park clearance kick and was backing up a counter-attack when he ran slap-bang into an outstretched Park flailing arm. The resounding ‘crack’ that filled the air automatically told those watching that he was in trouble. The game had to be halted for nearly 20 minutes while an ambulance and paramedics attended to him. He’s now recovering from a broken leg and will be sorely missed for probably the remainder of the season.

From that moment on, Quins looked patched up and unsteady. But the team’s collective resolve and sheer dogged strength and determination to continue to attack the opposition helped see them through a difficult half, particularly when they conceded a hotly disputed try to Park after Adam Wallace put full back Phil Ah-Sun into difficulty when failing to clear the lines from Park pressure. The spilled pass between the two Quins players was pounced upon by the pressuring Park offence who managed to ground the ball, seemingly after Quins had touched down. But pressure on the referee by Park again saw them sway the decision in their favour, the try subsequently converted to close the gap to 8-7.

Quins looked more and more likely to run out victors as one Park attack after another broke down through poor handling, kicking away possession or through ill discipline, which Webster punished with two further successful penalties to ensure that they ran out winners by 14 –7, and maintained the Amateurs’ unbeaten run this season, keeping them top of the Middx and Herts Division 2 South table.

Harlequins scorers:

Try: Stevens. Penalties: Webster (3)

Team:
1. Lawrence (Shepherd) 2. Fairweather 3. Newman 4. Dewar (Barford) 5. Wall
6. Kurdi 7. Thompson 8. Stevens 9. Wigginton 10. Webster 11. Wallace 12. Hurst
13. Birbeck 14. Wootton (Fretwell)15. Ah-Sun

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