Harlequins 13 Bath 11

The Guinness Premiership game between Harlequins and Bath at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday Oct 3rd, 2009.

Another desperately close affair but a rare victory for Quins. This was their first win of the season and the final pulsating minutes as they bashed away at the line were wonderfully dramatic. Nick Easter got the game’s conclusive try. It was a score that caged the vultures circling over the club. It was a score from a fairy tale.

Martin Johnson and his sidekick Brian Smith were in town on Saturday night. With Delon Armitage out of the running following his recent shoulder injury, England’s premier coaching duo need to find a full-back for the autumn internationals. And as luck would have it, there were two like-for-like candidates, Quins’ Mike Brown and Bath’s Nick Abendanon, for the England pair to run the rule over.

The Bath man made all the early running. There is clearly an emphasis on quick feet at some clubs in the Premiership because Abendanon flashed and fizzed for much of the first half. One run in the first quarter was especially stunning, as Abendanon danced through most of the Quins defensive line. The only problem was that he had to dance back through most of them a second time because he was unable to find a support runner.

Abendanon’s work ethic was first rate. He even popped up as first receiver on a couple of occasions so eager was he to get involved in the action. But, as ever, there were aspects of his game which didn’t quite stack up. His kicking out of hand was decidedly average. One up-and-under placed his team-mates in real trouble and Quins’ best attack of the first half came after another clearance kick fell short and was returned with interest.

Poor Brown. In the early part of the match his role was almost entirely defensive as Bath sent their big forwards battering through gaps. Peter Short, Duncan Bell and Andy Beattie were particularly effective in this role, clattering bodies aside as they forged forward. But as the half wore on, Nick Evans, after an uncharacteristically error-strewn start to the game, grew in influence to give Brown some attacking opportunities.

Neither side made a telling breakthrough, though. A wonderful Bell steal under the shadow of his own posts thwarted Quins after a series of fine drives. And a spectacularly effective tackle by Ugo Monye felled Shontayne Hape after he had been put clear by Nicky Little. It was left to the kickers to record the only points of the first half, two penalties by Little against one by Evans.

And so to the second half and more of the same. Tries are at a premium in the Premiership this season. Out of the 54 fixtures which have taken place as of yesterday evening, only on three occasions have teams managed to get a four-try bonus point. London Irish have done it twice, and Northampton once. The rest have struggled badly.

Ugo Monye, by some distance the most accomplished player on the pitch, did dot the ball down over the line for Quins just before the hour mark but the celebrations were curtailed when referee Wayne Barnes correctly ruled that Gonzalo Tiesi had knocked on in the build up. That was a theme for Quins all night. Poor hands at crucial moments and a faltering scrum were big problems for them.

Not that Bath were much better. The early attacking flamboyance from Abendanon faded as Bath also appeared to run out of ideas, but, boy, did they defend bravely. Abendanon closed down Gonzalo Camacho late on and Tani Fuga was scragged as he seemed destined to score, and then Bath themselves struck. Evans had stroked over a penalty to tie the scores before Bath broke free and Hape dummied his way over to score.

Incredibly, Quins still had a chance to save the game with 90 seconds remaining but Rory Clegg knocked on with salvation at hand. Even then the action was not over. In a series of pulsating surges Quins drove and drove and drove. Bath had Ben Skirving sent to the sin-bin for persistent infringement before one last drive well into injury time saw Nick Easter crashing over to clinch the game. You couldn’t make it up. The drama of it all was fabulous.

Match details

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle, G Tiesi, T Masson, U Monye; N Evans, D Care; C Jones, G Botha, J Andress, L Stevenson, J Evans, C Robshaw, W Skinner (capt), N Easter.
Bath: N Abendanon; J Maddock, M Carraro, S Hape, M Banahan; N Little, M Claassens (capt); D Flatman, P Dixon, D Bell, P Short, S Hooper, A Beattie, J Salvi, B Skirving.
Referee: W Barnes (RFU).