Quintin 1st vrs Hackney (home) – 14th February 2009
Quintin 20 – Hackney 13
After shipping 70 points in the sunshine at their place early in the season Quintin arrived for this match determined to give a proper account of themselves, and in the event went one better with a superb win driven by great team spirit or 80 minutes, 60 of those with the full compliment of players on the pitch.
The early exchanges were fairly scrappy with Hackney if anything shading the balance of play, and nearly went in front, their tricky outside centre being bundled into touch after sidestepping two defenders. Throughout the early exchanges we defended well and our work rate was fantastic, however the same weakness which had plagued us all season persisted – we were still giving away too many penalties, and were fortunate the Hackney kicker missed a simple chance early on. However, he made amends at the second attempt to put his side 3-0 in front.
Following this Captain Cooney gathered us together and in no uncertain terms told us to cut it out – “the last thing anyone should do, under any circumstances” he intoned “even if, and I want to make this absolutely clear, the referee has been struck with temporary blindness” he continued “is mess around with the ball on the floor” he finished. “Are we clear?” he added. We were. Or so we thought
Sanger kicked off. The Hackney second row caught the ball and was instantly tackled by Johnny. A ruck formed. A whistle went. The referee raised his arm for a Hackney penalty and started beckoning someone over. Who could it be? Who had so flagrantly and foolishly ignored the considered advice of Wise Old Stu (28) and put the team in jeopardy at such a crucial stage of the match? The guilty party emerged from the pile of bodies, gave his trademarked growl of frustration, ran his hands through what is left of his ginger hair and trudged sullenly off for ten minutes – handing his captains armband over to Damo en route.
Within minutes, however, the hitherto hidden stroke of psychological genius in this ploy was revealed. The loss of our leader served to unite the players against a common enemy (that twat who deserted us) and form an even stronger bond between the 14 players left. From an unthreatening position on about halfway, Ollie spotted the defensive line rushing up and called for the chip to exploit the space. Sanger, for once, weighted it perfectly, and the ball bounced back into Ollies arms who strolled past the confused fullback and raced to the line. Sanger, still smiling smugly and pretending it was all his idea, slotted the conversion to make it 7-3.
With Stuart back on the field, Hackney again dominated territory and possession and earned themselves another simple penalty chance – which their kicker again fluffed, along with an earlier dropgoal attempt. Just when it looked like we would take our lead into half time, they finally breached the tryline. A panic at the back of a ruck on our line followed by a panicked clearance kick led to their left winger with a one on one against plucky but significantly smaller Will, and unfortunately there was only one winner. We went in at the break 10-7 down but pleased with our performance – discipline excluded.
In the second half discipline was a lot better and we calmly took control of the game, something it seemed Hackney were not used to as they didn’t respond well. We earned rewards early on – a clearance kick gave Hackney the throw to a lineout ten metres from their own line, the hooker fluffed the throw and Johnny stole the ball to set up a ruck in a great position. Off the back, openside flanker Russell picked the ball, saw the gap, headed for the line…and rounded it off with the campest bellyflop touchdown ever seen, even in the days of Andy Little. Sanger’s place-kicking resurgence continued as he converted to take the lead to 14-10, a lead we would not lose again.
After missing another penalty and another dropgoal (Quintin players were wondering aloud why he continued taking kicks on), Hackney’s unfortunate number 10 had another chance from the edge of the 22. Johnny’s look of surprise at being pinged for hands in the ruck was genuine – what the referee hadn’t spotted was an unnamed Quintin fly-half lying the wrong side after tackling and scooping the ball back to his side. The kicker finally nailed one to take them to within a point, but that would be the last Hackney score of the day.
As the game pushed towards the final whistle and tension mounted, it was Quintin who kept their cool heads and Hackney who panicked and lost their nerve – even after another yellow card, this time to Howard for stamping, we controlled the game and played the last ten minutes in Hackney’s final third, earning and converting two more penalties to take the game away. When the final whistle went at 20-13, the Quintin celebrations showed what a momentous win it was, and crucially how much it was down to a vastly improved team spirit, a spirit we need to recapture every game to finish the season on a high.
Man of the Match – Johnny Wright. On his first team debut showed he is unlikely to see much of Tim Doherty in the next couple of months. Was all over the pitch, made breaks, was one missed pass away from creating the try of the season and jumped well in the lineout
Girl of the Match – Stuart Wrong. No surprises there, a yellow card straight after such a stirring speech, and from the captain no less! He was never likely to get away with that
Honourable Mention – James Munroe. After having the responsibility of second team captain dumped on him at the last minute was hugely disappointed when they couldn’t get a side out, however he himself and the players he provided proved crucial to the victory, both as subs and supporters