Tag: HARLEQUINS

Monye and Harlequin FC Come Full Circle

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Ugo Monye has been an ever present figure for Harlequin FC – having witnessed the despair of the fans when the club got relegated from the Premiership in 2005, the scandal and now, finally, he considers his stint at the club to have come full circle with The Quins winning their first ever Aviva Premiership title. The 29 year old winger is the longest serving player for the club at the moment, having spent 11 years of his career at Twickenham Stoop and having had to wait this long for the biggest success in the professional sport of the country, it is obviously very special to him.

Monye was also a part of The Quins side that won the Amlin Cup last season but the triumph of the club at the Aviva Premiership is bigger than any other win. The journey has been long and rigorous for the flanker, who made his debut for Harlequin FC back in 2002 and now that he has finally tasted the champagne of victory, he wants more such moments before he decides to call time on his career and hang up his boots.

According to Monye, he and his team mates had always known that success was going to come at some point in time, the question was when. He also cited Matt Hopper, who was playing in the playoffs of the Championship last year and now, has a Premiership medal around his neck and although he has had to wait a long time for success, it is worth it.

According to Ugo, this is the first major trophy for the club. Although the Amlin Cup victory of Harlequin FC was important, it was more of a springboard toward greater success than a success in itself and the cub will now aim for the Heineken Cup.

HARLEQUINS STILL STRUGGLING

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Harlequins failed to get their stuttering season back on track with a defeat at the hands of Gloucester and a poor performance to match. Ross Chisholm ran in two tries for Quins but an inability to convert their second half pressure meant they had to settle for a losing bonus point.

Since December’s Heineken Cup heroics and the victory over Toulouse, Harlequins have failed to impress, losing to the likes of Northampton, Saracens and now Gloucester and scraping past Worcester and Exeter. Their run of dire form since the New Year has also seen them crash out of the Heineken Cup and the LV=Cup.

The Gloucester game was the sort of match they were taking a minimum of 4 points from prior to Christmas but they were left with huge regrets.

Saracens’ shock defeat to Worcester on Friday had meant Quins could reopen the ever closing gap at the top of the table. Victory would have given them a nine point lead but they too would slip up.

They started slowly and never really got back on track, going 10 points down within 10 minutes and managing to stay in touch with Gloucester but to never really take control of the game.

Sloppy defensive errors from the league leaders meant Gloucester were always going to have chances and Jonny May’s try only went to highlight this. He broke through the defence from just short of halfway to add Gloucester’s second try in the second half and boost talk of an England call up.

Late in the first half Quins were lucky to not be reduced to 14 when Ugo Monye was penalised for a high tackle.

The half time score of 21-13 highlighted the openness of the game and the extent to which Gloucester had dominated. Quins would not recover. Yes, they made more chances in the second half and had they been more clinical in their finishing could have run out with a victory but the killer instinct that was so present in the earlier parts of the season was certainly missing when they made it to Gloucester’s 22.

The Quins pack led by example and was able to give Quins the territory but a combination of resilient defence from Gloucester and a lack of ingenuity from Harelquins meant they never really looked like snatching victory. They did stop Gloucester securing a bonus point and snatched one of their own with a late touchline conversion from Evans.

Quins will now turn their focus to regaining some sort of form before next month’s clash with Saracens. Next up is a trip to Newcastle, a game Quins can expect to win, but the performance will be under scrutiny as much as the result