Harlequins beat Kelso in thrilling encounter

The Howe Harlequins welcomed Kelso to Duffus Park this past Sunday looking to build on what was a positive 42-12 win against Broughton previously. Howe flew out the blocks applying pressure early in the Kelso half and reaped the rewards when Emma Wood crossed over to score two minutes into the game. Kelso, determined to not let the host’s fast start phase them plugged away through good forwards carrying before finding the try line themselves and equalling the score at 5-5. After a short period of neither team giving an inch to the other, Howe started to turn the screw and force mistakes from the visitors and this was taken advantage of when, from a solid scrum base, they produced some delightful free-flowing hands in the backline before Sally Bousie dotted the ball down in the corner for her first try and opened her account for the Quins. It was not long until Howe had their next try when speedster Claire Buist broke away down the wing and was in no danger of being caught as she claimed her first try of the season with the conversion unfortunately hitting the post to keep the score at 15-5 and the score remained into half time.

 

Kelso started the second half similar to how the hosts started the first and, with some ill-discipline creeping in from Howe, the pressure kept building close to the try line. Phase after phase Kelso looked for the whitewash with some resolute Howe defence holding them out until eventually the pressure paid off and Kelso forced their way over to bring the game back within a score at 15-10. With the score so close, both sides were slugging it out trying to get an edge and eventually it was the Harlequins who got the breakthrough. This time it was the turn of the forwards as captain Lisa Croniken forced her way over the line from short range to give the hosts some breathing room in the game once more. The try helped Howe to go through the gears as not long later, after some fantastic carrying and support play, the ball was shipped wide where full back Kelle Nicoll was able to cross the line and extend the Howe lead to 25-10. Just as Howe were looking to build on the momentum and push for another try, Kelso turned the ball over in their own half and executed a brilliant counter attack through the backs to peg the Quins back to 10 points. Eager to make up for the mistake, Howe marched back down into the Kelso 22 through a great break from debutant Ailsa Clark and earned themselves a penalty. Quick thinking allowed Howe to tap-and-go with Emma Wood scoring her second try of the match with the extras added by Phoebe Saunders to take the score to 32-15. There was still time for Howe to grab another one before the end of the match. Sophie Wareing produced some lovely footwork to find the space and get over to score the final try of the game. Phoebe was successful with the conversion meaning that the fulltime score was Howe Harlequins 39-15 Kelso.

 

Howe remain 4th in the table and hope to use recent performances to build momentum to climb as high as they can. This starts on Sunday when the Quins welcome Ayr to Duffus Park which promises to be a tough game.

Tries: Emma Wood x2, Sally Bousie, Claire Buist, Lisa Croniken, Kelle Nicoll & Sophie Wareing

 

Players of the Match: Becca Martland & Claire Buist

 

Match report by Jack Sinclair.