Dramatic defeat for Bath at the Stoop
Harlequins secured their first win of the new Guinness Premiership season in dramatic fashion on Saturday night - scoring with the last movement of the match to edge out Bath 13-11 at the Stoop.
The match itself had a bit of everything and in the end came to a head with a chaotic final ten minutes. With everything that has gone on at these two clubs during the summer this was always going to be an emotional fixture. Both teams playing with determination as well as nerves, it literally came down to the last movement of the match.
Neither side of course has enjoyed a good start to the season but have shown some slight signs of improvement in recent weeks.
The opening minutes of the match were particularly concerning for England manager Martin Johnson. Both Ugo Monye and Matt Banahan took early knocks and looked but played on despite clear discomfort.
Seven minutes into the had its' first score, Bath flyhalf Nicky Little comfortably slotting over a penalty from 40m.
Bath were clearly the dominant side early on and, with their discipline letting them down, Harlequins handed the visitors a number of penalties. Little accepted another kicking opportunity and, after 11 minutes, Bath were 6-0 up.
Eventually though Harlequins got going. With Danny Care and Nick Easter taking the lead, the home side forced their way up field and finally won themselves a kickable penalty opportunity. Nick Evans duly delivered.
An exciting match, both teams were trying to make the most of the space, spreading the ball to their speedsters at every opportunity during the first half. Despite the intent though neither was having much success as the two defences held strong.
The windy too were not helping, making kicking difficult and resulting in a couple skewed kicks in field and also a missed penalty attempt from Evans on 34 minutes.
A moment of magic from Little on the stroke of half time almost created the first try of the match. Searing through a gap in the Quins line, the Fijian flyhalf ran 20m up field before feeding centre Michael Carraro. Only the pace of Monye prevented a try. The Lions flyer brought the Australian down five metres from the line and Quins were able to hold on until ref Wayne Barnes signalled time was up and pointed to the dressing rooms.
As they did in the first half, Bath made a promising start to the second period. Running with determination and direction, Steve Meehan's men got to within striking distance of the Quins line but once again were thwarted.
They were almost then made to pay for their lack of finishing ability. A sweeping Quins attack ended with Monye chipping the ball forward and causing chaos in the Bath 22m. The confusion ended with the England star diving over the line to score but the try was not allowed after the touch judge had correctly spotted a knock on by the home side.
With scoring chances limited, tempers started to flare. Mike Brown, almost predictably, was at the centre of one flash point while Duncan Bell clearly indicated that he felt had been on the receiving end of a few punches in the scrum.
Bath slowly started to take control of possession but were struggling to create genuine scoring chances. Such was the style of the match, neither flyhalf, Little or Evans, were really getting any form of quality ball with which they could attack.
And that really was all the game needed. Getting quick ball off the line, Evans created a magical gap for Strettle and, after sending the ball threw the hands, only a fantastic try from Nick Abendanon prevented the try.
With 10 minutes left in the match the momentum was undoubtedly with Quins. Camping in the visitors 22m, a score had to come. It did, but only in the form of a penalty, levelling the score with just over six minutes left on the clock.
The game then sprung back to life. Shontayne Hape scored a fantastic try, cutting the hearts of the home fans, and seemingly securing a win for Bath on the road. The best set of phases of the match, from either side, ended with the former Rugby League star showing his pace and skill - stepping through the Quins defensive line - and dotting down with a poor dive.
The Harlequins pain wasn't quite done for the night though. A fantastic break from Tom Guest handed Rory Clegg a try scoring chance but the young flyhalf spilled the ball with the try line beckoning him home.
Hope was not lost however - penalty after penalty, Bath's Ben Skirving was yellow carded for kicking the ball through the ruck and handed Quins a last minute scrum five metres out. Wave after wave, Nick Easter, as he has done so often before, stood up and provided the try for his team.
An easy conversion from Evans followed and the celebrations could begin. An epic contest between to desperate sides, it was always going to end with heartbreak for one side... and this time it was Bath.
The Scorers
For Harlequins
Tries: Easter
Pen: Evans 2
Cons: Evans
For Bath
Tries: Hape
Pen: Little 2
Yellow Cards: Ben Skirving (Bath - 80 min)
The teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Tosh Masson, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Will Skinner (captain), 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Jim Evans, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 John Andress, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Ceri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Aston Croall, 17 Tani Fuga, 18 James Johnston, 19 Shane O'Connor, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Gareth Williams, 22 Rory Clegg, 23. Gonzalo Camacho.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Michael Claassens (captain), 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Stuart Hooper, 4 Peter Short, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 David Barnes, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Danny Grewcock, 20 Jonny Faamatuainu, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (71st Premiership game)