With 52 players in action in the unique setting of the Honourable Artillery Club, both coaches were able to see virtually their entire squads in match action for the first time, and in Quins’ case, an opportunity to assess a trialist, with Mark Calderwood playing for his hometown team for the first time. He was one of 12 different try scorers for Quins, who were missing only Rob Purdham, Karl Temata and Omari Caro.
For Skolars, Joe Mbu was taking a number of positives from the game which, despite the final scoreline, saw Skolars stay in touch for the first half hour. “We had a good hit out and competing against the best in London gave the guys the good experience of playing against the top level. We’ll take a lot of good things away, there’s a desire and willing to work together. One thing I will be doing is checking on interpretations with the referees as we gave away far too many penalties.”
Whilst Mbu may have been concerned about the ten penalties conceded by Skolars in the first half, that was actually one less than they received, as referee Steve Ganson was quick to ensure that both sides adhere to the rules right from the start of the season. That made for a scrappy first half, but Skolars did make Quins work hard for their points.
Quins first try saw their two props combine on the left flank, with Danny Ward outwide to score from Oliver Wilkes’ break. The second try was a soft one, Andy Ellis going through unopposed under sticks from dummy half.
His opposite number Sam Gee as held up over the line soon afterwards and Skolars recorded their first try in this annual game since it moved to the HAC in 2007 when Dylan Skee slipped through a gap in the defence. Neil Thorman added the conversion. It took another ten minutes before Quins would score again. That came from Tony Clubb and was quickly followed by one for David Howell, just grounding ball despite the efforts of the defence.
Nick Kouparitsas made some strong running throughout the game and rounded off the half with a try on his debut. With both sides ringing the changes at half time and the game becoming more free flowing. The quicker play the ball from the Super League side started to give Quins a chance to run and create more gaps in a backtracking Skolars’ defence. Another debutant, Jack Latus scored soon after the break, cutting through the defensive line, soon followed by one from Chad Randall.
In addition to his 8 conversions, Luke Gale scored a try following a break from his own 10 metre by Luke Dorn, Latus taking over the duties in the last 15 minutes for his 3 goals. Rob Thomas, who has played 4 games for Skolars on loan over the last 2 years, burst through a number of tackles and his try showed his strength in attack.
Quins hit the half century as Dan Sarginson ran from 20 metres out to score. His debut try and the final try of the game by another newcomer Will Lovell were overshadowed by the try by the more high profile Calderwood.
He showed signs of his pace when chasing a deep kick to the wing forcing a drop out. Then he finished off a Ben Bolger break, which came after Jy-Mel Coleman had just failed to hold an interception. Skolars only real chance in the second came when a Jason Hart pass went to ground on the left as the defensive pressure held tight.
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Neil Thorman
2 Smokie Junor
3 Dave Arnot
4 Luke May
5 Ade Adebisi
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
7 Dylan Skee
8 Stephen Ball
9 Sam Gee
10 Jason Hart
11 Matt Thomas
12 Oliver Bloom
13 Jamie Boston
Subs (all used)
14 Jared Riki
15 Olly Purslow
16 James Simon
17 Cariern Clement-Pascall
18 Jason Cook
19 Tony Williams
20 James Anthony
21 Danny Burke
22 Olu Iwenofu
23 Liam Prescott
24 Austen Aggrey
25 Aaron Small
Tries: Skee (17)
Goals: Thorman 1/1
HARLEQUINS RL
1 Luke Dorn
2 Jamie O’Callaghan
3 Tony Clubb
4 David Howell
5 Chris Melling
6 Luke Gale
7 Chad Randall
8 Danny Ward
9 Andy Ellis
10 Oliver Wilkes
11 Mike Burnett
12 Chris Bailey
13 Nick Kouparitsas
Subs (all used)
14 Luke Ambler
15 Rob Thomas
16 Jason Golden
17 Lamont Bryan
18 Jack Latus
19 Ben Bolger
20 Dave Williams
21 Dan Sarginson
22 Joe Ridley
23 Sam Bolger
24 William Lovell
25 Max Edwards
26 Mark Calderwood
27 Olsi Krasniqi
Tries: Ward (7), Ellis (10), Clubb (28), Howell (32), Kouparitsas (39), Latus (46), Randall (48), Gale (60), Thomas (63), Sarginson (68), Calderwood (76), Lovell (79)
Goals: Gale 8/9, Latus 3/3
Penalty count: 13-13
Half-time: 6-28
Referee: Steve Ganson
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 6-12, 6-16, 6-22, 6-28, 6-34, 6-40, 6-46, 6-52, 6-58, 6-64, 6-70
