By AlanQuin
February 17 2009

Harlequins A team lost this friendly match to Newbury at Monks Lane last night when, with the game in its dying minutes, Quins leaked two tries in as many minutes to allow Newbury to win by 26 – 22.

Both teams appeared in need of match practice as, despite obvious good intentions and endeavour, attacks foundered on unforced errors with several scoring chances wasted.  It was twenty-five minutes before the first score, a try for Newbury as Bentall won the race to touch down Griffiths’ kick through under the posts.  The simple conversion gave Newbury a lead at 7 – 0.

A prompt response from Quins saw Taione cross the line under a heap of bodies but the ball was ruled held up.  Continued pressure brought Quins a scrum on the home five-metre line and quick ball found Amesbury to score in the corner. Jewell’s kick failed to add the conversion points.   Quins continued to attack and another good backs move saw the ball spun wide for Sam Smith to cross for Quins’ second try just before half-time. Jewell again failed with the conversion.  Quins led 7 – 10 at the interval.

The second half began in similar fashion to the first half with a catalogue of unforced errors and regular stoppages for infringements seen and unseen.  After fifteen minutes Quins began a period of sustained pressure, exhibiting patience and moving the ball nicely along the line until eventually Tosh Masson broke through to score under the posts. Luveniyali added the points for a 7 – 17 lead.

A yellow card for one of the Newbury locks reduced the defence and allowed a rapid Quins’ attack from the restart that brought a try for Seb Jewell but the conversion attempt failed.  With a lead of 7 – 22 Quins appeared to have the game securely in their grasp. 

It was an illusion that was to be shattered emphatically.  As Newbury returned to full strength, a yellow card for replacement scrum half Gareth Williams reduced Quins to fourteen men.  Newbury pressed their advantage and scored again through Kessel and Griffiths converted.

With time running out rapidly, Newbury began to attack with determination, pushing Quins back into their twenty-two.  An attacking scrum gave the home side a free kick and the quick tap and pass allowed Finken to cut through from close range to score.  The conversion failed.  There was barely a minute left.

Collecting the restart Newbury ran the ball back with purpose and finally a kick through towards the corner bobbled and bounced so as to deceive Amesbury and allowed A.Griffiths to score and W. Griffiths to convert the try with the final kick of the match.

Harlequins’ coaches were less than pleased with the result and the performance. “We needed to be more direct and more physical” said Colin Osborne, “To be fair to them, Newbury gave it a lash and they succeeded.”  There is clearly some work to be done before the A League semi-final on 2^nd March.

Newbury Blues: 15. Jonny Hylton, 14. Chris Ridgers, 13. Charlie Perry, 12. Marc Sweeney, 11. Martin Nutt, 10. Gareth Griffiths, 9. Waylon Gasson, 8. Scott Witcomb, 7. Sean Fox, 6. Jack Bentall, 5. Brad Mockford, 4. Ien Ascroft-Leigh, 3. Tom Fidler, 2. Joe Clark, 1. Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16. Harry Pendleton, 17. Rob Green, 18. Paul Fincken, 19. Adrian Griffiths, 20. Tom Kessell, 21. Dave Birtwhistle, 22. Ross Noonan.

Quins A: 15. Waisea Luveniyali, 14. Charlie Amesbury, 13. Tosh Masson, 12. Epi Taione, 11. Sam Smith, 10. Seb Jewell, 9 Junior Polu, 8. Jono Ross, 7. Neil McMillan, 6. Tom Sargeant, 5. Jim Evans, 4. James Inglis, 3. Peter Bracken, 2. Chris Brooker, 1. Aston Croall
Replacements: 17. Alex Rogers, 19. Chris York, 20. Gareth Williams, 21. George Lowe, 22. Seb Stegmann

Referee: T. Hall