Saturday 6th March 2010 AIL2 Quins 5 – Malone 22 On Thursday the 4th, I was awakened by our local corncrake croaking raucously. Spring had arrived. Unfortunately for Quins, it was to be Malone, the better team on the day, who had a Spring in their step before, during and after this match. Indeed following a flattering (to Quins) 5-7 half-time lead to Malone, the latter were to win 5-22, one try to three tries. At 18 Pentland converted Horner's try for Malone. From the restart McComb the Quins Captain, caught the ball on the full and scored in the LH corner at 19: game on: Q 5  M   7. Olayisade replaced the injured BlakeKnox. At 35 Barker scored a 2nd try for Malone in the LH corner: Q  5  M   12. At 64 Pentland kicked a good penalty: Q  5  M   15.   At 78 Hill scored Malone's 3rd try from a ruck and Pentland converted:  Q  5  M   22. In the 2nd half, Alan Rankin, Alatise Ale, Danny Annett and Robert Creighton replaced Logan, Morton, Neill and Atkinson (with Olayisade going to flanker). Quins suffered too many turnovers in scrum, ruck and maul though their lineout was robust, if not perfect. Our attacking options were limited and as at Thomond we basically lost by two clear tries (3 to 1). Quins started with: 15 Keith Pyper 14 Rory BlakeKnox 13 Michael Allen 12 William Stewart 11 Roger Kirkwood 10 Mark Kettyle 9 Michael Heaney 1 Tim Morton 2 Robert Logan 3 Richard Lutton 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb(C) 6 Stephen Neill 7 Colin Atkinson 8 Chris McCarey. Derrick Crothers(prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO

Thomond 23 - Quins 12 Fitzgerald Park, Limerick Saturday 20th February 2010   The above match was played in rain, hailstones and sleet; I had to comb the  hailstones out of my hair before even the kick-off! Fortunately I had a geisha girl to hold an umbrella over me during play! Her name is Eithne. Quins elected to defend the now removed burnt-out terrace-end and Thomond kicked off. So no spooks ( Harry, Adam, Ruth etc) were required, though I note that our International centre prefers Jack, as in '24'. Suffice it to say the half-time score was : Thomond 13  Quins  9,Thomond having kicked two penalties and, for Quins, Richard Reaney having kicked three. The turning point in the first half, however, was a crooked throw in the line-out (not allowing for the left to right wind); the referee quite rightly played advantage and Thomond scored a well taken try goaled by their astute out-half. In the 2nd half, Quins closed the gap to 13-12, Reaney having kicked his 4th penalty, early on, soon cancelled out by another Thomond penalty. However the 14 point turnover was to come at 53, when an almost certain try from Quins was denied by an intercepted try, in the  Thomond 22. This was goaled with the full 4 points going to Thomond,  the better team on the day. Our 5 replacements: Alan Rankin, Tim Morton, Colin Atkinson, Michael Heaney and Rory Blake Knox were used in the 2nd half. Thomond were very adept at the driving maul and too many of our punts/grubber kicks resulted in dead balls, scrum back, or Thomond 22 drop-outs. There were a lot of knock-ons, but as I can verify ( see above) it was very cold. Our scrums were excellent, but we lost this game through two simple errors, on which Thomond capitalized: essentially two tries to nil. I did think the Thomond forwards were off-side at the mauls and rucks from our line-outs, quite often, with impunity. We shall have to learn to be more street-wise! In the circumstances, no Quins' player of the match, but I did think Miles O'Hagan tried very hard to make telling breaks, even after injuring his ankle.  Quins started with: 1 Richard Lutton 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb(C)  6 Alister Heatlie 7 Andrew Joseph 8 Andrew Gillespie 9 Paul Marshall 10 Mark Kettyle 11 Roger Kirkwood 12 William Stewart 13 Michael Allen 14 Richard Reaney 15 Miles O'Hagan. Finally on this away-Limerick venue occasion, I want to thank Mike Wallis for his sterling service, booking seats on the Enterprise for the supporters leaving Central Station. He has now gone to live in Scotland with his wife. Previously he lived in Coleraine and arrived by train at Central Station platform area. Our game v Bruff on 14 November was his last game: many thanks for all your work, Mike! and Good Fortune! See you at Ballymena for the 1st round match v Ballymena in the Perrins Ulster Senior Cup, at 2-30pm,Saturday 27 February. With the England v Ireland KO at 4pm, this might alter: watch the website, please. Keep at it men, coaches and management team: things can only get better.   Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO

AIL2 Quins  22  DLSP 7 Philips Arena , Deramore Park Saturday 30th January 2010   Quins elected to defend the Clubhouse and DLSP  kicked off, the flurry of snow having melted under the strong Sun. Suffice it to say, leading 17-0 at half-time, Quins won 4 valuable League points, with the final score Quins  22  DLSP  7. Quins scored a penalty try at 15, converted by Richard Reaney who had already kicked a penalty at 10. At 24, Michael Allen intercepted and ran 50 metres to score a try converted by Reaney. In the 2nd half William Stewart scored a well constructed third try at 64, which was  not converted. At 77 Ken Copeland scored a consolation try for DLSP, converted by Conor Hickey. Try as they might, Quins could not score the vital fourth-bonus-point try. This may cost Quins 2nd place at the end of the season and hence promotion to Division 1B. It is interesting that the two sides just above us in 2nd and 3rd places (Bective and Bruff)  play each other on the 27th March. Each side, Quins and DLSP, received a yellow card. Nevertheless after consultation I name Adam Macklin our man-of-the-match; not least for his scrummaging, several rumbustious breaks in attack and getting back to save a certain try, late in the game. I thought Gareth Rourke and Chris McCarey were outstanding in the loose and in the  lineouts - where the lifters excelled themselves. A few bad passes and fumbles caused  the 4th try to elude us.. Uncontested scrums did not help our cause. Alister Heatlie and Keith Pyper replaced Richard Lutton and Michael Allen in the 2nd half. Not used were Alan Rankin, Tim Morton and David Creighton. Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Richard Reaney 13 Michael Allen 12 William Stewart 11 Roger Kirkwood 10 Mark Kettyle 9 Paul Marshall 1 Richard Lutton 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb (c) 6 Colin Atkinson 7 Andrew Gillespie 8 Chris McCarey.   Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO

Quins 18  UCD 6 Philips Arena, Deramore Park Saturday 23rd January 2010 In the above match,Quins elected to play against the Sun and mild breeze. UCD kicked off and were to take the lead  in the 1st half with their outhalf Niall Earls kicking a penalty(22) and a drop goal(26). Fortunately, Quins  took a half-time lead with an individual try (31) by Michael Allen, converted by Richard Reaney:  Quins  7  UCD  6. Michael showed great pace and strength in holding off his opposite number. At 51 Roger Kirkwood fairly sprinted up the left wing to score an unconverted try, after Neil McComb had picked up a loose ball and linked with Paul Marshall and Roger. At 68 and 75, Michael Heaney, having subbed on for Miles O'Hagan (with  Reaney going to fullback), kicked two important penalties, leaving the final score at: Quins  18  UCD  6, another 4 valuable League points! In the 2nd half, Alister Heatlie, Niall Annett and Keith Pyper replaced respectively Andrew Joseph, Robert Logan and Roger Kirkwood, the 1st two having been injured. Once again the entire team played well,with Gareth Rourke, Colin Atkinson, Chris McCarey and Adam Macklin to the fore in rucks, lineouts, ball-carrying, tackling and scrums. However as the 2 tries were the essential difference, and having consulted Mr Len Young (team-manager) and Dr Bertie O'Neill ( photographer and trustee), I name the two try-scorers: Michael Allen and Roger Kirkwood as our men of the match, which in turn was well refereed by Cork referee Barrie O'Connell and his two Ulster assistants. Once again the Quins pack were the fitter of the two packs. Mr John Callaghan, Armagh, IRFU President graciously addressed the 400 Club at the pre-match lunch. See you at the Philips Arena, Deramore Park, for a vital AIL II match versus DLSP, Saturday, 30th January, 2010, at 2-30pm, the latter still being 3 points ahead of us, in 2nd place! Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Richard Reaney 13 Michael Allen 12 William Stewart 11 Roger Kirkwood 10 Mark Kettyle 9 Paul Marshall 1 Richard Lutton 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb(C) 6 Colin Atkinson 7 Andrew Joseph 8 Chris McCarey. Alan Rankin was reserve prop, hooker and Doctor.   Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO

Old Wesley 11 Quins 36 Donnybrook, Dublin Saturday 16th January 2010 In the above match,Quins were to earn their second 4-try bonus point win of the season:OW 11 Quins 36. OW elected to defend their Clubhouse and Quins kicked off. Tries by Logan(9), Reaney(11), O'Hagan(49), Marshall(73) and McComb (84) were more than enough to ensure a win. Other than the 3rd, Reaney kicked 4 conversions and a penalty(11).OW's #10 David Smith kicked 2 penalties @ 54 and 60; their open-side flanker #7 Ross Condron scored their only try. It should be mentioned that Reaney was out kicking after training on Thursday evening ! Although each side received a yellow card and there were a few cautions, I thought the Cork referee Mr Dave O'Flynn refereed this match very fairly, with the assistance of the two Leinster touch-judges. Quins are now in 6th place ,3 points behind 2nd placed DLSP, with of course Lansdowne well out of sight in 1st place.So all to play for in the race for promotion to Division 1B (top two). All 5 replacements were used in the 2nd half: Alan Rankin, Mark McGrath, Alister Heatlie, William Stewart and Rory BlakeKnox for Morton, Macklin, Joseph, Pyper and Kirkwood respectively. The all-round tackling was excellent and our front-five proved the fitter, in each half. Three tries from the backs and two from the forwards speaks  for  itself. Compared to the Bective game on the same pitch, earlier in the Season, we protected our early 10 points lead proficiently. Everyone played well, so no man-of-the-match (team manager's and my decision). Reaney did score 16 points but did miss what could have been a crucial tackle early on.  Atky covered some ground at 6 and was well backed up by Joseph. Allen did the same at 13. A few knocks-on occurred with the line at our mercy but this is history. (Incidentally there was a clean sweep by the men's XVs (see main website screen): 1sts to 4ths !) See you at Philips Arena, Deramore Park, this coming Saturday 23rd January 2010 for yet another exciting AIL II encounter, this time with UCD who caused us to be relegated from Division I 3 years ago. As the Schweppes ad on TV would say, our men were well up for the OW match ! Well done men,Wardy, Adam, DC and the rest of the management team. Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Richard Reaney 13 Michael Allen 12 Keith Pyper 11 Roger Kirkwood 10 Mark Kettyle 9 Paul Marshall 1 Tim Morton 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb (C) 6 Colin Atkinson 7 Andrew Joseph 8 Chris McCarey  Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO

Quins 9 – Terenure 17 Philips Arena, Deramore Park, Saturday 12th December 2009   Quins elected to attack the Black Mountain on a cool, still afternoon. Terenure kicked  off. The Sun was to drop at half-time, when the home side was still very much in touch, 6-7, Michael Heaney having kicked two penalties at 12 and 41, and Mark O'Neill having converted Daragh O'Doherty's try at 15. In the 2nd half, O’Neill and Heaney exchanged penalties at 52 and 65 respectively. The coup de grace came at 85 when Ian Denham scored a try, converted by O'Neill, to leave Quins without even a bonus point: Quins  9  Terenure  17. Quins slip only one more place further down the AIL II table , to 10th. Tim Morton for Rankin and Keith Pyper for Allen were our replacements. Not used were Mark McGrath, David Creighton and Danny Annett. The squad was unchanged from last week's mighty effort at Lansdowne. The moral of the story appears to be :score tries, concede penalties, if necessary. I, along with many other spectators thought that Miles O'Hagan was badly treated. In the 1st half he was taken out in the air, deliberately, as he caught a high ball, yet the  opponent was not even cautioned! Miles was injured. In the 2nd half, O'Neill's successful penalty came from a Terenure punt with Miles standing his ground; the Terenure punter made contact with the stationary Miles who received a yellow card for alleged obstruction. No justice there,Mr Hodges. It has to be said that our backline is not functioning as an entity and an attacking force. In my view our midfield triangle contains two wings and an outside centre. See you at Stevenson's Park, Dungannon, for our Ulster League match, on MONDAY 28 December 2009, followed by Instonians at Philips Arena, Deramore Park, at 2-30 pm on SATURDAY 2nd January 2010 in the USL: Season's greetings! Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Roger Kirkwood 13 Michael Allen 12 William Stewart 11 Fiyin Olayisade 10 Rory Blake-Knox 9 Michael Heaney 1 Alan Rankin 2 Robert Logan(C) 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb 6 Andrew Gillespie 7 Colin Atkinson 8 Chris McCarey.   Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO

Lansdowne 17 – Quins 16 Saturday 5th December RDS , Dublin. Lansdowne elected to defend Bewley's Hotel and Quins kicked off on a cool still afternoon . In the 2nd half, the breeze, with drizzle drove Quins on. Leaders Lansdowne were to squeeze their victory:  Lansdowne  17  Quins  16, 10-10 having been the half-time score, after a great Quins' recovery from a bad start. Thus Quins obtained a losers' bonus point which sees them slip into the lower half just of the AIL II table, For Lansdowne, Matt Healy @ 3 and Brian O'Riordan @ 49 had tries, each converted by Dave Hewitt who also kicked a penalty goal @ 8. For Quins, Chris McCarey @ 26 scored a try, converted by Michael Heaney who also kicked three penalty goals @ 17, 65 and 76. Each side received a yellow card. In the 2nd half, Tim Morton, for Rankin, and Keith Pyper, for Allen, were Quins' replacements. Not used were Mark McGrath, Danny Annett and David Creighton. After consultation with Bertie O'Neill, we name Miles O'Hagan and Andrew Gillespie as joint men of the match. The latter prevented two tries in the 2nd half with crunching tackles one metre from our goal-line. The former had a terrific all-round game with immaculate catching (causing Lansdowne supporters to  shout 'run it', in frustration) and nearly got his winger in for what would have been an important try in the 1st half, after his long break. Macklin caught a Garryowen in the 2nd half, with half the Lansdowne team off-side, yet no penalty. One of our forwards was tackled, and was about to play the ball when a Lansdowne player 'duck-dived', landing like a parallel corpse on the Quins' side, yet the penalty went to  Lansdowne ! The IRB certainly does need to address this issue: in mathematics it is called non-Abelian algebra or non-commutative algebra#. Which comes first: holding on or 'duck-diving'?  Was our player supposed to plant the ball on top of the prone opponent? Surely not! I must say I was very proud of our team and if they play as well as this for the rest of the season,the sky's the limit. They also played with great heart. A pity about some turnovers: once in a wheeled scrum and twice dropping out at restarts. But our  lineouts and our rucking were in general excellent. My opinion is that Michael Heaney and Roger Kirkwood played very well as did our entire pack. Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Fiyin Olayisade 13 Michael Allen 12 William Stewart 11 Roger Kirkwood 10 Rory BlakeKnox 9 Michael Heaney 8 Chris McCarey 7 Colin Atkinson 6 Andrew Gillespie 5 Neil McComb 4 Gareth Rourke 3 Adam Macklin 2 Robert Logan(C) 1 Alan Rankin. Next week we entertain Terenure again in AIL II at Philips Arena, Deramore Park: be there!   Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO PS Ladies 1st XV Sunday match postponed, due to water-logged pitch, until Jan 2010 PS2 #Or if you prefer, which comes first: the chicken or the egg! PS3 Every molecule contains an atom contains an electron, the position x and the  momentum (mass x speed)p, (even in the human body) in which do not commute: x*p-p*x=hbar, Planck's reduced non-zero constant.

Philips Belfast Harlequins 10 Bruff 14 Saturday 14th November 2009

Bruff elected to defend the Castlereagh Hills and Quins kicked off. On the previous day, the Friday, torrential rain had soaked the pitch, as well as flooding the exit on Deramore Park. There was a light intermittent breeze. Quins scored a try at 3 minutes by Tim Morton, converted by Niall O'Connor who also kicked a penalty at 56. Bruff kicked 3 penalties at 43,44 and 60 and scored an unconverted try at 54 , all by their Captain and outhalf Brian Cahill. The half-time score was Quins 7  Bruff  3, and the final score was:  Quins 10 Bruff 14. Quins' only consolation was a losers' bonus point; thus they slip only from 3rd to 5th in AIL II,sitting now on 15 League points, 2 points behind Thomond, DLSP and Bruff, 9 behind leaders Lansdowne. Quins started and finished with 4 full Ulster players. Rob Creighton replaced Colin Atkinson who replaced Andrew Gillespie. Not used were Alan Rankin(16), Mark McGrath(17), Alister Heatlie(18) and David Creighton(20). This was all very disappointing for Quins' team, coaches, management and supporters.There were too many turnovers, we were out-rucked and there were too many elementary handling errors. On the day, the better team won! However, as James Bond would say: 'Never say Never'. We could always imagine a parallel universe in which the scores were reversed. No match on 21st November! Our next match is agreed to be on Thursday 26th November at Deramore Park versus Banbridge in the Ulster Senior League (not Saturday 28th November,due to the Ireland v South Africa International at Croke  Park). Our next AIL II match is on December 5th versus leaders Lansdowne, in Dublin. Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Fiyin Olayisade 13 William Stewart 12 Colin Atkinson  11 Rory BlakeKnox 10 Niall O'Connor 9 Paul Marshall 8 Chris McCarey 7 Andrew Gillespie 6 Tamaiti Horua 5 Neil McComb(C) 4 Gareth Rourke 3 Adam Macklin 2 Robert Logan 1 Tim Morton. Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO P.S. Quins women 2nd XV beat Ballymoney 1st XV 39-5, on Sunday 15 November 2009. Player of the match was Lesley Ann Stirling. A stirling performance, n'est que pas? prof

Philips Belfast Harlequins v Dolphin All Ireland Cup round 3 Saturday 7th November Philips Arena Deramore   Quins elected to defend the Clubhouse and Dolphin kicked off on a grey overcast but still afternoon, with only intermittent rain to contend with. In the 1st half there wasn't much in it with if anything Quins having the balance of play. However a missed tackle led to an unconverted Dolphin try by Robbie Allen at 29. At 38 Barry Keeshan extended the half-time lead to: Quins  0  Dolphin  8, with a simple penalty In the 2nd half, Keeshan kicked another two penalties at 59 and 64, to extend the Dolphin lead to : Quins  0  Dolphin  14. Quins defence deteriorated and at 70 and 78 Dolphin scored tries by Niall O'Driscoll and Rory Keneally, respectively, each converted by Keeshan. Chris McCarey scored a consolation try at 81 (very deservingly in view of his outstanding game) converted by a drop kick  by Miles O'Hagan. So the final score was: Quins  7  Dolphin  28, which slightly flattered the streetwise Dolphin , but not by much. In the 2nd half, Mark McGrath for Alatise Ale, Ale for Alan Rankin, Danny Annett for  Andrew Joseph for Andrew Gillespie and Frederick Cuttle for Richard Reaney were Quins' replacements, Paul Olding the sub hooker not being used. It should be recalled that Quins were missing four Ulster A players who played Friday night in Muster v Munster A: namely Neil McComb, Adam Macklin, Tamaiti Horua and Niall O'Connor. I thought Chris McCarey was outstanding, with Miles O'Hagan, Gareth Rourke and Colin Atkinson not far behind. Dolphin in the 2nd half did receive one caution and one yellow card. Quins started with: 1 Alatise Ale 2 Robert Logan(C) 3 Alan Rankin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Alister Heatlie 6 Andrew Gillspie 7 Colin Atkinson 8 Chris McCarey 9 David Creighton 10 Rory BlakeKnox 11 Richard Reaney 12 William Stewart 13 Rob Creighton 14 Roger Kirkwood 15 Miles O'Hagan. See you at Philips Arena, Deramore Park, for another vital Division II League match versus Bruff  at 2-30pm. Derrick Crothers( prof)   Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO  PS Chris McCarey's late try at least brought a smile back to the faces of two of our  loyal supporters!

Bective Rangers v Philips Belfast Harlequins Donnybrook Arena , Dublin Saturday 31st October 2009

Bective elected to defend the Old Wesley end and Quins kicked off. There was to be no ECSTASY [ at the Fancy Dress Party at Quins on Halloween night, nor LSD; just cigarettes (for those who smoke) and ethanol ] . . . .. Quins had lost to Bective away : 24-23 in a cliff-hanger. On a beautiful Indian Summer afternoon, Quins had taken an early 10-0 lead: a penalty by Niall O'Connor @ 3 and an O'Connor converted Miles O'Hagan try @ 8. However an over-elaborated back-row move off a scrum proved to be a turning point, as Dave Campbell the Bective scrumhalf and Captain made a telling tackle. At 17 and 24, Cormac O'Brien kicked two Bective penalties and at 29 right wing Mike Smith scored a well taken unconverted try in the right-hand corner; this followed a double-miss pass from the Bective outhalf O'Beirne to Smith. So the half-time score was :  Bective  11  Quins 10. All to play for! However it was not to be -  for Quins. At 44 O'Beirne kicked a penalty and when Michael Allen was red-carded at 48, he kicked another. (I thought myself that a yellow card would have more than sufficed : I don't think it was malicious -but we will leave that to the Reports Committee.) At 62 O'Connor kicked a penalty:17-13 to Bective. However disaster struck and the Munster referee awarded a penalty try on a first collapse of a scrum on our line: was the Bective tight-head legally bound? O'Beirne converted and it was Bective 24 Quins 13 ! Miles O'Hagan then made a great break and was in but for a minor fumble. But at 69, O'Connor kicked a penalty and, on 81, Michael Heaney,  scored an opportunistic try, converted by that man O'Connor. Final Score Bective 24 – Quins 23. So Quins had to settle for a losers' bonus point but ironically move up from 4th to 3rd in AIL II table. It must also be related that the rain came down @ 50 and soon became an absolute downpour, with the spectators scampering about in the Donnybrook stand. Our line-outs and scrums were excellent and O'Connor's kicking was impeccable. However in the circumstances there was no man-of-the-match . Hopefully selection and strategy/tactics will not be hampered by the all-too prevalent injuries list. See you at Philips Arena, Deramore Park, on Saturday 7th November for our 3rd round AIB Senior Cup match versus Dolphin from Division 1A. Quins started with:   1 Alatise Ale 2 Robert Logan(C)3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Danny Annett 6 Andrew Gillespie 7 Andrew Joseph 8 Chris McCarey 9 Michael Heaney 10 Niall O'Connor 11 Keith Pyper 12 William Stewart 13 Michael Allen 14 Rory BlakeKnox 15 Miles O'Hagan, In the 2nd half, Colin Atkinson had subbed on for Michael Allen and Andrew Joseph; David Creighton subbed on for the injured Keith Pyper and Mark McGrath subbed on for Alatise Ale. Derrick Crothers(prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO PS1  A work colleague lent me a rugby book the other day - “Voices from the Back of the Bus” by the former NIFC 1stXV Coach Stewart McKinney (ex Dungannon, Ulster, Ireland and the Lions) PS2: Four Belfast Harlequins Ladies played for Ulster versus Connacht, going down 0-12; they were Max McMorris, Brenda Brogan, Jenny Quinn and Jolene Cloughey

Philips Belfast Harlequins v Greystones Deramore Park Saturday 24th October 2009

The above match was dominated by a strong Southerly wind. Quins won the toss and played towards Malone Rd.  Greystones kicked off towards the ClubHouse. The Muster referee Trevor Collins, from Bandon, near Clonakilty,was particularly demanding regarding scrummaging. Quins held a half-time lead of 5-0, following an excellent Rory Blake-Knox try  in the RH corner as a result of a Chris McCarey inspired passing movement. In the 2nd half, after 2 minutes, Andrew Gillespie spun out of several would-be tackles and scored an important try at 42, converted by John Mills. Four minutesl later he kicked an excellent penalty, given the strong cross-wind. However at 68 and 78 we let Greystones back into the game with Barry Lynn kicking a penalty and Killane Keogh scoring a rather soft unconverted try.Thus Greystones gained a valuable losers' bonus point,with Quins having to be content with 4 League points,moving them up to 4th in AIL II, 2 try-bonus points behind leaders Lansdowne and behind Thomond and DLSP solely on points differential.The final score was thus: Quins  15  Greystones  8, so reversing last year's away defeat. In the 1st half Alatise Ale subbed for the injured Tim Morton ; Robert Logan bravely stayed on despite a neck injury. In the 2nd half Alister Heatlie for Andrew Joseph, David Creighton for Michael Heaney and Richard Reaney for Rob Creighton subbed-on. This match was a battle royal between 2 committed packs, in bad conditions. The line-out jumping of the Captain Neil McComb, was decisive in setting updriving mauls and rucks and accordingly, Dr Albert O'Neill (photographer and trustee), Len Young (team manager) and I, name Neil McComb as man-of-the-match. Chris McCarey, Michael Heaney and Robert Logan were  significant back-ups. No twitter (vocal blogging  )or blogging(written twitter) this week! See you at Donnybrook (to be confirmed )next Saturday 31st October HALLOWEEN) for an important AIL II match versus Bective Rangers. Quins started with: 1 Tim Morton 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Neil McComb 6 Andrew Gillespie 7 Andrew Joseph 8 Chris McCarey 9 Michael Heaney 10 John Mills 11 Rob Creighton 12 Colin Atkinson 13 Michael Allen 14 Rory BlakeKnox 15 Miles O'Hagan. Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO PS1 Quins IIs had a good home win (1pm KO) against Banbridge IIs. PS2 Quins Ladies Ist XV had a hard-earned draw against Cavan, in Cavan, in the AIL II N League.

Clonakilty v Philips Belfast Harlequins Saturday 10th October 2009 Shannonvale,West Cork

Clonakilty elected to oppose the weak Westerly breeze. Quins kicked off. It was a very Sunny day compared to two years ago and in contrast with Friday. I had to slow to 50mph on the M8 so heavy was the rain. Quins won this match,deservedly so, by 5 Niall O'Connor penalties to 4 Clonakilty penalties:for Quins @ 32, 40, 49, 63 and 74;  for Clon @ 5, 17, 36 and 74. Thus at half-time: Clon  9  Quins  6; @full-time: Clon  12 Quins  15. At 88 a Clon player had to be stretchered off the field of play following a clash of heads.We hope and plead for a full recovery. Subsequently @ 92 , the Clon outhalf sliced a sitter which would have given Clon a share of the points. However they had to settle for a losers' bonus point while Quins move up to 5th , one try bonus point behind Lansdowne and UCD, and and below 3rd & 4th on points differential: all to play for! My man-of-the -match, without consultation, during 12 hours driving, is Niall O'Connor for his impeccable place kicking which won us this match, several from 50 metres! Shades of Shannon @ home! Quins started with: 1 Alatise Ale 2 Robert Logan(C) 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Danny Annett 6 Andrew Joseph 7 Andrew Gillespie 8 Chris McCarey 9 David Creighton 10 Niall O'Connor 11 Keith Pyper 12 Colin Atkinson 13 Richard Reaney 14 Fiyin Olayisade 15 Miles O'Hagan. In the 2nd half Michael Heaney replaced David Creighton at Scrumhalf. I thought the cover-tackling of the entire back-row was immaculate. I thought our front-row dominated the scrums.The lineoute and rucks were pretty even.Indeed regarding the well known current washing powder TV ad,based on Coronation Street (where-else than the seaside resort of Clonakilty),one could say we performed pretty well up-front and our hands were above average with a little room for improvement. Our  back-three:Miles,Fiyin and Keith each attacked well with sidestepping runs towards the Clubhouse in the 2nd half. My personal view is that Quins deserved to win because of more persistent attacking than Clon,who nevertheless did take advantage of our errors.Well done men and coaches! See you next week in Limerick for our 2nd round AIB Senior Cup match versus University of Limerick Bohemians! Derrick Crothers(prof) Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO PS Our ladies rugby had an excellent win on Sunday 11th in the All Ireland League II N V TCD(Dublin University)12-5 with a brace of tries by Max McMorris and one conversion by Michele Laffin, at Deramore Park.Congratulations

Saturday 3rd October 2009 AIL2, Deramore Park Quins v Old Crescent

Quins elected to play into the firm Westerly wind and Old Crescent kicked off. This was to be a fairly robust match well handled by Leinster referee Mr Brian MacNeice and his two Ulster touch-judges. Quins scored 5 tries [Gillespie 14, Olayisade 18, Morton 26, Horua 46, Logan 80], O'Connor converting the 1st, 2nd and 5th.Woods for Old Crescent  kicked two 1st half penalties, reinforced by two unconverted tries at 55 and 77 by  Woods and Glamuzina respectively. Thus the half-time score was Quins 19  Old Crescent  6; and the full-time score: Quins 31  Old Crescent  16, leaving Quins after the first round of AIL II 6th on 5 League points through points differential only, having earned the 4 (or more) -try bonus point. After wide-spread consultation, I name Tim Morton as man-of-the-match for his effective and forceful play at loose-head. When we are surrounded by world-wide misery: earthquakes, tsunami, global  warming,War (cf Afghan and Iraq), financial recession, swine(and goat?) flu, inappropriate expenses for politicians, and even David Letterman's local difficulties,  it is nice to play,or be associated with sports like rugby Union, for relaxation, not to mention mental and physical fitness. And of course, if it is worth doing it is worth doing well. By the way I was in Rio de Janeiro on April Fool's Day in 2005 to secure an International Conference (cf 2016 Olympic Games and France Airbus fatal crash). Michael Heaney, Ale Alatise and Keith Pyper replaced David Creighton, Tim Morton and Richard Reaney in the 2nd half. Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Fiyin Olayisade 13 Richard Reaney 12 Colin Atkinson 11 Rory BlakeKnox 10 Niall O'Connor 9 David Creighton 1 Tim Morton 2 Robert Logan(C) 3 Adam Macklin 4 Gareth Rourke 5 Danny Annette 6 Tamaiti Horua 7 Andrew Gillespie 8 Chris McCarey. An excellent 1st half was, however, not matched by our 2nd half performance which was a little disappointing.Of course playing with the wind is not    advantageous in the lineouts nor in passing. It is nevertheless advantageous for punting! Lastly,Olayisade's 1st half try was absolutely stunning, literally. See you in Clonakilty next Saturday at 2-30pm for our Round 2 AIL II match: October 10th.   Derrick Crothers(prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO/CMO PS1 Our Second XV had an excellent win v the Red-Sox in a home League match with a 1pm KO. PS2 If any journalist requires information(score,scores,scorers)then please contact me by text on my mobile(07816790186)phone and I will text them when I am not driving! PS3 Our Ladies Rugby team unfortunately lost 7-20 to Derry,Sunday afternoon, Jenny Quinn scoring the only Quins' try,converted by Michele Laffin.

Season 2008/2009

Saturday 18th April Instonians 37 Quins 40

 

 

Quins, in the above final-round match, elected to attack the East and play into the mild breeze which soon dropped. Inst kicked off and, considering they were already relegated this was to be a tumultuous match, with Inst leading 22-9 at half-time. Fortunately, Quins were to win the 2nd half 31-15. One is reminded of the movie  'A Beautiful Mind,' starring Russell Crowe as John Nash (Nobel Prize,Economics,1994). Only halfway through the film does one realize, at first viewing, that Nash's Harvard flatmate is a mere figment of his imagination, associated with schizophrenia. Perhaps Andy Ward's half-time talk was the trigger for Quins' transition. Quins scores were:Tries (Blake Knox: 43, 54; Roache: 58; Kettyle:62; McCarey:80); Penalties (Pyper:22, 36, 41); Conversions (Pyper:58, 62, 80), making a total of 40, while Inst also scored 5 tries at 24, 28, 31, 45 and 48 (with the middle-three converted), while Watt kicked penalties at 8 and 72, to leave the final score at INST   37 ;  QUINS  40, and 2 League point to 5 League points, including Quins' first 4-try bonus of the AIL season. Accordingly Quins made a quantum jump from 13th to 11th place and from 23 to 28 League points (6W, 1TB, 3 LB) (and -51 points differential), 9 points above relegation. Perhaps a quantum leap will be required next season. In Animal Farm by George Orwell, read to me at the age of 9, I heard that: 'All animals are equal but some are more equal than others'. Our backs scored, admirably, the 1st, 2nd and 4th tries and the forwards the 3rd and 5th. After a brief chat with Len Young our team manager, at The Night at theRaces,we name Chris McCarey, once again, as man-of-the-match. Quins subs were, Frederick Cuttle for McLoughlin , Stephen Robinson for Gillespie, and Alan Rankin for Logan, in the 2nd half. Not used were Ivan Girvan, and Andrew Joseph. Had he lived, John Stewart Bell would undoubtedly have received the Nobel Prize for Physics for 'Bell's Inequalities' .He finished off all his quantum-logic proofs with QEDFAPP: quod erat demonstrandum, for all practical purposes. For the cognoscenti he came from the bottom of Tate's Avenue and initiallyattended the Junior Technical College in the basement of what is now BMC at the Black Man. I commend Keith Pyper and David Creighton for practising their goal kicking and punting respectively, on Thursday evening before team training, and in Pyper's case on Saturday morning. Following consultation with Miss Marple, Columbo, Taggart, Wycliffe, Taggart, Poirot and Morse, not necessarily in that order, Quins started with 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Fiyin Olayisade 13 Mark Kettyle 12 Keith Pyper 11 Gavin McLoughlin 10 Rory Blake Knox 9 David Creighton 1 Dan Roache 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Alister Heatlie 5 Neil McComb 6 Chris McCarey 7 Colin Atkinson(C) 8 Andrew Gillespie In this my final report I would like to thank Alistair Latimer for his fine (now extinct Masonic School Dublin) oral contributions on the public-address system at our home games, and Jerome Holland and his wife Angela for their impeccable Presidential contributions to the Rugby side of the overall Club. Finally congratulations to David  Gillespie on a successful completion of the season with our Firsts still in Division II of the AIL. Derrick Crothers(prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO .... and finally, a word from our editor. That is the prof's last match report for this season. Entertaining, inventive yet statistically correct, alternative, sometimes controversial. Inherently  educational  and witty. Sometimes   philosophically bewitching ! - many thanks prof and long may it continue  !! JAON

Saturday 11th April 2009 Quins 13 Dublin Universitry 34 In the above penultimate match of the season,Quins elected to defend the Lagan and DU kicked off. This was to be a very disappointing match from a Quins' supporters point of view.    For Quins, Andy McPhail (at 12) and Stephen Robinson (at 35) scored tries while DU scored three times at 20, 29 and 38.the first two having been converted, to leave the half-time score at Quins 10 DU 19. In the second half, DU scored tries at 47 (converted) and 77. DU at 49 and Quins at 59 exchanged penalties to leave the final score as stated above. Fred Cuttle and Niall Conlon subbed on for the injured Miles O'Hagan and Dan Roache. Unused were Alan Rankin, Jody Wylie and Rob Creighton. Each side received a yellow card. As against Malone, kicking in general and defence remain inadequate and frail respectively. I thought our props Roache and Macklin did rightly as did our right wing Andy McPhail. McComb had a great attacking break at pace but lacked support. Overall, very dissappointing - but despite this, a losing bonus point against Instonians will guarantee the retention of our AIL2 status. (regardless of other results) -  equally well , a 4 - try bonus performance would suffice!! Quins started with: 15 Miles O'Hagan 14 Andy McPhail 13 William Stewart 12 Mark Kettyle 11 Gavin McLoughlin 10 Rory Blake Knox 9 David Creighton 1 Dan Roache 2 Robert Logan 3 Adam Macklin 4 Alister Heatlie 5 Neil McComb 6 Colin Atkinson(C) 7 Andrew Joseph 8 Stephen Robinson. Good win, Trinity! Derrick Crothers (prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO (Hon. Fellow TCD) PS  I shall take this opportunity to thank Bernie McGrath and Bertie O'Neill for their support over the last three years :well done the two B's. Bernie, especially on cold Winter (and Spring) evenings, for his hot soup/coffee when I sat out on the gallery watching the men train; Bertie for his reliable up-loading of my reports on the web, week in , week out, as well as his photography over the last three years (2006-2009); indeed it was Bertie who recommended me to Andy Ward in 2006.

Saturday 28th March 2009 Gibson Park AIL2 Malone 31 - Quins 15

Quins elected to defend the East in the above game and Malone kicked off with a stiff predominantly Western wind behind them, in our ante-penultimate AIL II match of the season. Malone secured 5 League points by scoring five tries at 4, 39, 41, 65 and 72 and converting the last three. Quins' late response was two tries by Robert Logan at 45 and 82 interspersed by a Stuart Philpott try at 79. Thus the half-time score was 10-0 to Malone and the final score 31-15 to Malone. After only 9 minutes ,uncontested scrums ensued following injuries to Johnathon Hopgood and Adam Macklin, with Mark McGrath and Andrew Joseph subbing on. Moreover at 28,Malone 4 was red-carded having earlier been cautioned. Quins received three yellow cards in the first half . Our punters, grubber kickers and goal-kickers still don't know a vector from a tensor. Our Midsomer-Murders tackling in the backs is worriesome and it has to be said Malone back moves showed much greater variation and penetration than Quins, as their 5 tries to 3 tries superiority confirms. Our team manager Len Young and I both thought Robert Logan, Alister Heatlie and Willie Stewart did show excellent skill, determination and urgency. The usual suspects Colin Atkinson and Chris McCarey showed the required commitment in tackling throughout. Overall our pack more than matched Malone's. Quins remain 11th on 23 points, above Clonakilty (12th on 23),DLSP (13th on 21),Thomond (14th on 18), Wanderers (15th on 17) and Inst (16th on 13). The remaining fixtures for the bottom 6 teams are: on the 11th April: Easter Saturday: Quins v DU (H), Clon v Bruff(A), DLSP v Wand(A),Thomond v UCC (A), Wand v DLSP (H) and Inst v B'hinch( A) and on the 18th April: Quins v Inst (A) ,Clon v B'hinch (H), DLSP v UCC(H), Thomond v Bective(H), Wand v Highfield( A) and Inst v Quins(H) - it is in the lap of the gods. Not a good day at the Office! Good win, Malone! Quins started with: 15 Keith Pyper 14 Miles O'Hagan 13 Shane Stewart 12 Mark Kettyle 11 William Stewart 10 Niall O'Connor 9 Paul Marshall 8 Stephen Robinson 7 Colin Atkinson(C) 6 Chris McCarey 5 Neil McComb 4 Alister Heatlie 3 Adam Macklin 2 Robert Logan 1 Johnathon Hopgood. Stuart Philpott and Rory Blake Knox subbed on for Andrew Joseph and Miles O'Hagan in the 2nd half. See you at Philips Arena,Deramore Park on the 11th April, Easter Saturday, for our now vital penultimate AIL II match v Dublin University (TCD). Derrick Crothers(prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO PS Einstein was of the opinion ''God doesn't play dice''. Of course he was wrong. The electrons in the atoms in the molecules in gas, liquid and solid phases (that's you and me among other matter) are only describable by Scroedinger's equations of quantum mechanics which requires probabilistic distributions of electronic charge...... Quins should not play dice - on the other hand!

Saturday 7th  March 2009 AIL2 Quins 8 - Highfield 16

Highfield won the toss and elected to defend the Castlereagh Hills. There is little to say about this match from a Quins' point of view. We lost 8-16,so not even a quantum of solace;that is not even a losers' bonus point. At 36 Willie Stewart scored a great opportunistic try,following a charged down kick and just beating Mark Kettyle to the touchdown. At 46, Miles O'Hagan kicked an excellent goal ; Highfield kicked a penalty at 18, scored a goal at 68, a dropped goal at 87 and another penalty at, yes, 92 !! - such were the number of injury stoppages. Thus half-time was 5-3 to Quins and full-time 8-16 to Highfield. The most obvious reasons we lost were that 11 points were missed in the first half-hour:3 penalties and a conversion and yet another yellow card immediately after a substitution. We have now slipped to 11th position in AIL II, the only quantum of solace being that we remain 9 points clear of relegation because Thomond lost and Inst. got only a bonus v Malone. C'est la vie! Quins started with: 1 Dan Roache 2 Stuart Philpott 3 Adam Macklin 4 Alister Heatlie 5 Neil McComb 6 Chris McCarey7 Colin Atkinson(C) 8 Stephen Robinson 9 David Creighton 10 Mark Kettyle 11 William Stewart 12 Keith Pyper 13 Shane Stewart 14 Rory Blake Knox 15 Miles O'Hagan. Substitutes: 16 Tom McArthur, who subbed for the injured Dan Roache in the 2nd half 17 Robert Logan, who likewise subbed for Stuart Philpott 18 Andrew  Joseph, who subbed for Stephen Robinson with Chris McCarey reverting to no. 8 19 Graham Jewhurst 20 Frederick Cuttle The game was refereed by Peter Dennehy of the Leinster Branch. Watch out on the website for the likely Senior Cup Match v Ballymena ,possibly next Saturday. Derrick Crothers(prof) Philips Belfast Harlequins RFC PRO