Howe Harlequins 35-10 Greenock

Greenock............................10

Following a respectful Remembrance Sunday silence the two National League Division One sides kicked off in wet, muddy conditions at the Duffus Park.

The Howe started strongly with a try from hook Megan Potter just three minutes into play which was ably converted by Phoebe Saunders.

Remaining in the opposition’s 22 for the next few phases of play the Howe girls were again rewarded with a try from their lineout by Christianne Fahey.

The next try for the Howe was an amazing catch from the restart by Niamh Feighan who ran unchallenged to cross the whitewash at the corner.

Captain and prop Emma Wood added to the Quins’ success by catching a lovely offload from winger Stephanie Craig and running almost half the pitch to secure the lead.

With league positions already secured by application next season these remaining games have provided the coaches with an ideal time to try players in different positions. One of those was Emma Mackinnon, a stalwart fixture in the team at 10 moving into the forwards pack at 8. She used her natural strength and ability to perform some fantastic work, notably a breakaway off the back of a halfway line scrum with a huge carry which she ably offloaded to her flanker who chipped the ball and chased it down over almost half the length of the pitch only narrowly thwarted by the strong Greenock defence. Another notable performance was from fullback Claire Buist who put in a tremendous try saving tackle, showing her ever growing confidence in contact.

A crunching tackle from the Howe resulted in a yellow card and Greenock made the most of the mismatch in numbers to score their first of the day. This was quickly answered by two more tries by Niamh to bring her to the hat trick and a well chosen penalty under the posts was taken and scored by Megan Potter to bring the Howe their final points of the game.

Greenock scored their second try in the dying moments.

The Harlequins’ final league game of this transitional season sees them travel to Broughton RFC on Sunday.

Always on the lookout for new players the Quins train on Tuesday and Thursday nights at Duffus Park between 7.30-9.00.