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With some of the summer’s excesses presumably run off at the YM tournament last week it was still deemed necessary to organise a bus to transport a mere 8 of our players to the north west for this encounter. Surely they hadn’t put on that much weight?

Even though all players arrived on time there was a delay as the ref showed up late. This time was well used to sort out who would jump in the line out and for the backs to run a few "moves". A new look 5s team for this season’s opening encounter saw Eddie and Cooper playing for the 4s, and Frew, Ally and Mad Dog not available. There was also a tactical switch at out-half and full back, which was considered the way forward, at least prior to kick-off anyway.

Early on it looked like the 5s would do ok and from a quick tap penalty Chris carved a hole in the Coleraine defence to put Rob Calvert in for a score. The skipper actually looked like he was being generous and offering the try to someone else but when there was no one in support decided to take it himself. Strangely this try was actually converted even though it was not beneath the posts.

Coleraine responded quickly and produced a try through a pacey outhalf who managed to get clear and run in untouched from about 40 yards. Quins replied soon after following some sustained pressure when Barney harassed their defence, pounced on a loose ball, tore their cover apart and set up Pat Miscampbell for a score. Again Pat took the conversion and slotted it successfully even though it was well outside the posts. Coleraine in an almost identical manner to their first try scored when their out half broke clear again. This time we defended a bit better but an overlap meant their support players finished off a well-worked try. Thankfully the Coleraine kicker was wearing the same boots that we wore last year and again missed the conversion, leaving the half time score a favourable 14-10.

Quins had the better of the first half and had come close to scoring a number of times. Coleraine picked up an injury and were reduced to 14 just before the interval.

It hasn’t been seen since old Bob Collins’ used to produce a beer tray full of oranges at half time, but Rob "Mr Motivator" Calvert reintroduced the tradition and passed round sliced oranges for refreshment. How civilised!

The second half started well again with Quins applying most of the pressure but never really converting the position into points. Coleraine dug deep having been reduced to playing without a back row, and put together some good passages of play. However, Quins defence held firm, most notable from Barney who has mastered the "hit, lift and dump" tackle much to the discomfort of the Coleraine back line.

Even though we were playing with extra players and Chick was having a field day at the base of the scrum, there seemed to be no penetration and Coleraine were still very much in the game. In the last quarter Quins started to do the basics better and following a disallowed try from Roger, which the video-ref would easily have awarded had he been asked, Big Pete soon drove over from a line-out. No video ref was required this time as the pack was very vocal about where the ball was and how the try was scored. The game at this stage started to look out of reach to Coleraine.

The match was finally killed off when Chris Magowan, who had an excellent game throughout, crossed the line for late try which Pat again converted. With a 75% record Pat is one of our most successful goal kickers of all time.

All in all a scrappy sort of a game but a great start to the season. Wally was keen to point out that the 5s have actually won a first match of the season before when he was captain, however on reflection he will recall that we offered the fixture to our U20s who despatched the Vikings a couple of seasons ago. Unfortunately we also never before or after beaten the Vikings either, so his argument is somewhat diluted.

Man of the match was a point for discussion with Chick, Barney, Pete, and Pat all having excellent games, however Barney just shaded it for his terrific all round game which was faultless. Dick of the Day was a close run thing between Spam and Tristan. Tristan had obviously been coached by Mad Dog during the week on ball control and managed to volley the ball in a cross kick across our own goal line. Fortunately the ref blew up for an earlier Coleraine infringement, as there clearly was no advantage to be played from this piece of Beckham-esque madness. Spam (prop) turned up on the left wing as an overlap attacker in the Coleraine 22. Getting the ball, with the line at his mercy he strangely decided that the team would be better off with a line out in the corner rather than a score. He duly put his weight behind this delicate chip, and booted well out of play on the full. He didn’t even look embarrassed, and therefore was awarded the D.O.T.D. award.

Many thanks to Coleraine for their hospitality; we’ll see you in Belfast in December. Roll on October 4^th when the undefeated Belfast Harlequins 5^th XV meet Holywood at Fortress Deramore.

Team: 1. Neil McGrath 2. Stevie Uprichard 3. Jamesie Graham 4. Niall Bryson 5. Pete Stewart 6. Graham Chalmers 7. Stephen Weatherup 8. John Heuston 9. Chris Magowan 10. Marcus Cummings 11. Pat Miscampbell 12. Rob Calvert (capt) 13. Andrew Leitch 14. Tristan Kinnear 15. Roger Gilpin.

Man of the Match: Barney Leitch

Dick of the Day: Spam McGrath

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