Kilburn Cosmos 1st XV vs Harlequins Amateurs - 6th Dec 2008

Kilburn Cosmos 10 - Harlequins Amateurs 15

Different opponent, same result for the Kilburn Cosmos 1st XV as once again they lost a close game that was theirs for the taking. This time they went down 15-10 to top 4 placed Harlequins Amateurs on the boggy ground of Tiverton Green on Saturday.
Kilburn were confident of a good performance but once again a poor start left them chasing the game. Within the first ten minutes good field position gained by Quins saw them attack the blindside in the Cosmos 22 and a miscommunication saw 2 defenders tackling the flyhalf who off loaded to the unmarked winger who cantered in for a very soft try and opened up an early 5-0 lead to Quins.
Kilburn replied strongly but could never really get a roll on. Promising moves quickly broke down with bad passes, dropped balls or turnovers from isolated players and lack of support.
A raid into Quins territory saw the Cosmos with an attacking lineout deep in the Quins 22. Unfortunately the lineout ball was tapped down by Tom O’Connor straight into a Quins loosies hands. A poor attempt at a ball and all tackle by centre Richey Cunninghame allowed Quins to quickly move the ball to their backs who had a 2 man overlap with Cunninghame and fly half And Allan out of the picture after having to tackle the Quins forwards. The Quins backs used this unexpected ball brilliantly to score in the corner 80 metres down the field despite howls of protests over the last pass being forward. This was converted to leave the score 12-0 to Quins.
Bouncing back another Cosmos foray into the Quins 22 resulted in a penalty which Allan duly knocked over to make it 12-3 and finally get the Cosmos points on the board.
Apart from the 2 early tries the Quins offered little in the backs that troubled Kilburn but they themselves could make little headway with messy ball coming to fly half Andy Allan which hampered the backline. The most significant player in the first half was the Quins flyhalf who kept turning the Cosmos around with an excellent kicking game. Using the low sun he gave the Cosmos back three a very testing time and constantly got Quins into Cosmos territory.
With the half time score 12-3 Cosmos definitely felt like they were still in the game and were confident they could come back for the win.
The second half was pretty even with Kilburn dominating with the ball in hand but Quins still able to relieve the pressure and gain territory with their excellent kicking game and they got an early penalty to extend their lead to 15-3.
Eventually the Cosmos had reward for their toil with concerted pressure on the Quins line resulting in fly half Andy Allan bursting through for the try which he converted himself to make the score 15-10.
Kilburn had another great chance soon after when a charge down saw Peter Donaldson scoop up the ball on the Quins 22 and offload to Cunninghame but good scrambling defence and a lack of pace quickly saw him chopped down, ever present flanker Aly Bursey toed the resulting ball through but it just went dead in goal before he could reach it.
The last 15 minutes saw Kilburn mounting frenzied attacks to score the winning points but they could not find the try they were looking for and another win went begging.
The forwards played well once again with an excellent scrum dominating the opposition but did not seem to quite have the urgency they had displayed in recent weeks. It was only towards the end of the game when they really started to threaten with their fast paced offloading game with Aly Bursey and Declan Magee at the forefront.
The backs looked dangerous at times but a lack of good ball coming to fly half Allan and some poor options and hands did not help. Dan Riley, while having a difficult day with the high ball, popped up with some excellent runs and wings Wilson, Coane and Taguri looked threatening with the limited ball they received.
Injuries affected the Cosmos second half with halfback Liam MacManus having to be replaced after suffering a torn hamstring, prop Ben Zaug injuring his shoulder, no 8 Kurt Shrubsole having to go to the bloodbin and Cunninghame spending the last 20 minutes halfblind but these were no excuse for not coming through for the win.
The man of the match and 3 MVP points was given to flanker Aly Bursey for a typically industrious game with big John Fenlon getting 2 MVP points and Scott Aitken in his return from a nose job 1.
The loss leaves Kilburn with only one win from 8 and second last on the table with one game to go before the half way point.

Kilburn 10 (Andy Allan try, con, pen) Harlequins 10

Team: Hayden McKenzie, Declan Magee, Ben Zaug, John Fenlon, Tom O’Connor, Aly Bursey, Scott Aitken(c), Kurt Shrubsole, Liam MacManus, Andy Allan, Hayden Wilson, Richey Cunninghame, Peter Donaldson, Chris Coane, Dan Riley. Res: Phil Morgan, Paul Ledington, Mo Taguri