Bonus Point Win But At What Cost For Quins

Hawick Harlequins started their league campaign with a bonus point win over Ross High 41-25 but with that win came a few injury scares. Young scrum half Bryan Hall was taken to St Johns Hospital in Livingston with a broken jaw, vice captain Gary Rodgerson limped off with a foot injury and no.8 Jordan Hyslop limped off with a knee problem. Despite these injuries the Quins still had a strong enough squad to over come these set backs and notch up 7 tries. Harlequins got off to a very poor start. Having kicked off the Quins conceded a penalty in the first 10 seconds which resulted in a good kick and lineout take which Ross High took full advantage of and scored with barely a minute on the clock. 7-0 down after a minute was a huge wake up call to the Baker Street men who had previously thought this game was going to be a lot more plain sailing. With a hard kick up the backside from skipper Gav Douglas the Quins played some exciting rugby and when Jordan Hyslop broke free of a couple of tackles, there was a huge sigh of relief when he ran in under the posts. Douglas added the extras. The Quins dominated the next period of the game and when the Quins pack took on the huge Ross High pack the Quins quick handling and offloads saw Steven Mabon crash over for his first try in a Quins jersey, again Douglas added the extra 2. Keen to keep the score board ticking going down the Tranent hill, Quins added a third and it was Hyslop who picked up from the back of the scrum, fended off the blindside flanker and crossed over for his second of the match. Douglas added the extras yet again. With a firm foot hold on the game the Hawick side had their tails up and when winning a penalty just outside the opposition 22, Scott Peffers picked up and opted for a cross field kick, a poor kick which fortunately found the grasp of fullback Graeme Lothian and when running at front row his quick foot work was enough to glide past them and touchdown for a very lucky score. This time Douglas failed to convert and the Quins looked comfortable at 26-7 with only seconds remaining in the first half. However, Quins went to sleep and a lapse in concentration saw a knock on from the restart which resulted in a penalty being conceded. Ross High scored the penalty and reduced the margin slightly to 26-10. Things were still looking good for the Hawick side at the half time break with a try bonus point already in the bag. Coach Gary Murdie was keen for his side to get more tries and send out a real message to the rest of the league that the Quins mean business this season with real hopes of a winning this league. Things didn't go to plan as Ross High came back out from the break with nothing to lose. Playing down hill they persisted in kicking deep into the corners which caused some problems for the Quins. Ross High found themselves, with their heavy pack dominating things up front, causing the Quins defence some problems. After eventually wearing them down and almost every 50/50 decision going their way the hosts finally got themselves back in the game with their second try but unable to convert the Quins still had a 11 point cushion. This being another way up call for the Quins, they dug in deep to put pressure on the hosts and when Adam Hall found himself in possession out wide, he had two big forwards to beat but when running out of space he put in a determined leg drive and with a little help from Neil Anderson he drove over to score. Douglas missed the conversion. Back in the driving seat the Quins got back into the flow of some good rugby and Graeme Lothian glided in for his second try and his sides sixth after good movement and awareness from the Quins backs gifted them a 3 on 2 overlap which Lothian took full advantage of. Douglas again missing the conversion. Ross High still had hope of making a game of this and when scoring 2 tries in a matter of minutes they had got the try bonus point and were back within 11 points of the Quins at 36-25. Last season the Quins were bad for letting sides claw their way back into games and lost one or two decent half time leads squandering away vital points but having learned from last seasons mistakes they finally seen of Ross High when Neil Douglas scored the final try of the match for the Quins, when the conversion was missed the full time whistle went and the Quins won 41-25. Jordan Hyslop put in an outstanding shift scoring two great tries and was MOM. Quins continue the league trail away to Border rivals Duns on Saturday, which is always a tight affair and is sure to be another tough test for the Baker Street men. Everyone at the Harlequins would like to extend their best wishes to Bryan Hall and hope for a speedy recovery after his operation.