Blues make winning start to HEC

October 12, 2009 No Comments

An early offside offence by Harlequins saw the Blues opt for a scrum 5 metres out from the Quins try line. However, ‘Quins were penalised again and the Blues opted to kick at goal with Blair slotting it. Evans soon equalised.

The Blues were struggling in the scrum and Harlequins upped the tempo with quick tap penalties. The Blues also entered into the spirit of the game with a rampaging run by Rush into the ‘Quins twenty two which looked promising until the ball was knocked on. From the scrum Quins attacked all the way into the Blues half.

Another penalty saw Blair bring the score to 6-3 but shortly afterwards Gareth Thomas was forced to leave the field with what looked like a groin injury. Halfpenny coming onto the wing.

A quick throw in by Norton Knight saw Ben Blair cut the defence open in what looked like another promising move which ended with the ref again penalising the Blues.

With Quins attacking in the Blues twenty two Cardiff Captain Paul Tito clashed heads with fellow New Zealander Nick Evans, which worryingly saw him leave the field on a stretcher.

The referee had stopped play for treatment and Quins were awarded a scrum on the twenty two. However they failed to capitalise and the half time score was 6-3.

The opening minute of the first half saw Halfpenny go for a long range effort from well within his own half. He was unlucky as the ball hit the upright. However, it worked out well from the Blues with Jamie Roberts breaking passing to Shanklin to Norton Knight who flipped inside for Tom James to touch down. Blair added the conversion and kicked a penalty that hit the upright a minute later.

The Blues were beginning to dominate territory and were also looking far more threatening. Leigh Halfpenny had another long range effort but this time it just drifted wide to keep the score at 13-3 but the Blues looked far more dominant.

Nick Evans kicked another goal for Quins to narrow the deficit with just under 20 minutes left.

The threat was far from over for the Blues with Quins attacking well and camped on the Blues try line for what felt like an age. Eventually they tried to spread it wide but knocked on in midfield allowing the Blues to clear. But Quins came back and valiant defence kept wave upon wave of attacks out until they spread it wide and fumbled.

The score was 13-6 and still the Quins attacked the line. It was a nail biting ending but in the 76th minutes Quins were penalised and the Blues eventually cleared their line.

Deiniol Jones eased the heartbeats of the Blues faithful with a neat chip through gathered by Halfpenny who touched down to score and seal the win.

Final Score Cardiff Blues 20 Harlequins 6

Heineken Man of Match- Xavier Rush

Cardiff Blues

15 Ben Blair 14 Gareth Thomas 25off 13 Tom Shanklin 12 Jamie Roberts 11 Tom James 10 Sam Norton-Knight 9 Richie Rees

8 Xavier Rush 7 Sam Warburton 6 Andy Powell 5 Paul Tito (c) 38off 4 Bradley Davies 32off 3 Taufa’au Filise 65 off 2 Gareth Williams 1 John Yapp 29off blood 39on 73off

16 T Rhys Thomas 17 Sam Hobbs 73on 18 Gary Powell 29 on blood 39 off 65on 19 Deiniol Jones 32 on 20 Robin Sowden Taylor 38 off21 Gareth Cooper 22 Ceri Sweeney 23 Leigh Halfpenny 25on

Harlequins

15 Mike Brown 14 David Strettle 13 Gonzalo Tiesi 12 Tosh Masson

11 Gonzalo Camacho 10 Nick Evans 9 Steve Sooialo

8 Tom Guest 7 Will Skinner (C) 6 Chris Robshaw 5 Jim Evans 4 Lewis Stevenson 3 Mark Lambert 2 Tani Fuga 1 Ceri Jones

16 Chris Brooker 17 Aston Croall 18 John Andress 19 Shane Oconnor 20 Neil Mcmillan 21 Gareth Williams 22 Rory Clegg 23 George Lowe

Referee: Alan Lewis

Touch Judges: Dudley Phillip & Trevor Collins

TMO: Marshall Kilgore

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