The long awaited top of the table Dewar Shield clash ends in an entertaining draw, where both teams could have scored a win. Despite some wasted opportunities, it was a hard-fought battle at Ashwood Reserve. In an entertaining but tight encounter, both teams were held to a ten-all draw.
Early in the match Harlequins were on attack and put Melbourne under pressure. However, they were unable to break their defence and Melbourne hung on. A lazy ruck infringement gifted Melbourne a Penalty, well within kicking distance. Morete missed the penalty kick from 35 meters out, leaving the scores at nil-all.
The missed opportunity gave the Unicorns some courage to start applying some pressure on the home team. Melbourne enjoyed a period of dominance, but Quins held their line and didn’t concede any points.
At the 20th minute mark Harlequins capitalised on a perfect counter attack. Mick Snowden kicked the ball deep into the Quins defensive lines from inside his twenty-two. The ball was caught by Owade who broke several tackles on the right wing before pushing back inside to the support of Van Zyl.
He was quick to see Vole free on the left and the outside centre launched himself towards the chalk. He broke three tackles to score the first try of the match. The conversion was missed by Lloyd Johansson, the score remained at 5 – 0 to Harlequins.
The Unicorns kept their composure and went on the attack, but the Quins’ defence wasn’t showing any holes. Despite strong resistance, Melbourne found a hole in the defence and scored a Try. Crichton was the man who found the hole, placing the ball right under the posts.
The second half saw much of the same as the first, with both teams pushing each other to the limit, but not finding any space in-between the defensive lines. At the 45th minute the heat of the battle got a little too much for Lloyd Johansson. His ill-discipline cost him dearly, with Darren O’Brien sending him to the sin bin.
Despite playing with just fourteen men Quins didn’t give anything away to the visitors and the score didn’t change for ten minutes. In an ironic twist, former Wallaby Johansson almost went from villain to hero and had a chance to put his team in front. Johansson missed an easy penalty, minutes after coming back from the bin. Scores remained at 7 – 5 to Melbourne.
With few chances for each team it was the Unicorns’ kicker Deina Morete who stepped up to the tee. His first kick went out to the left. The second kick was on target from a short distance. Scores 10 – 5 Melbourne.
Harlequin hasn’t won every game of the season by chance and the team demonstrated the point with a powerful reaction. They had to dig deep if they were any chance to rescue this match. Pushing hard deep in Melbourne’s twenty-two, Quins found a way through heavy traffic to score a Try. Owake was the try scorer, and Harlequins now had a chance to snatch victory.
With two minutes to go Johnasson’s conversion could have won the game for Harlequins, but instead of placing the kick the centre went for power. He missed the posts to the left.
Before the final whistle the visitors had the last chance to close off the game, Morete ran away from his half with a counter attack and a grubber kick but, when already deep into the Quins’ half tried to control the ball but lost it forward.
Harlequins perfect season has been spoiled by a gallant Melbourne Unicorns. Quins entered the match with a perfect record, all wins with a bonus point, but could well have ended up with their first loss of the season. Melbourne was looking for revenge after having lost their only game in the first encounter with Quins and were so close to getting it. In the end the draw was the right result for two teams that had several chances to close out the match but were unable to do so.
Source: Green & Gold Rugby Written by Diego Ghirardi (@Metri22)
Final Score: Harlequins 10 – Melbourne Unicorns 10
Harlequins 10:
Tries: Eli Vole, Leo Owade
Conv.: Lloyd Johansson 0/2
Pen.: Lloyd Johansson 0/1
Melbourne 10:
Try: George Crichton
Conv.: Deina Morete 1/1
Pen.: Deina Morete 1/3
