Wheatley seconds arrived at the clubhouse amidst rumours that they would not only have a full front row, but also the rarest of rarities, substitutes. These rumours were soon confirmed as it became obvious that there were more people than seats in the changing rooms and the late comers were forced to wear shirts 3 times too big for them. Unfortunately, Harlequins had also bought a large and relatively youthful squad along and so any thoughts of having an easy match were soon quashed.

Due to both teams being at home this weekend, Wheatley were forced to share the same changing room building as their opponents and as such, Captain Pete Ramsdale saved his now famous motivational speech until the team were out on the field and away from enemy ears. In another rare occurrence, the whole team was on the pitch with more than enough time to spare, allowing something that almost resembled a warm up to occur.

Referee Oliver Tyson gave the signal and the Quin's fly half got the game underway, with Wheatley collecting the ball and setting about their work. 20 seconds later, Peter Ramsdale uncharacteristically found him self on the wrong side of a ruck and collected a boot to the eye for his troubles, allowing Harry Bowers to gain his first appearance in Purple in his place.

The game soon found it's rhythm, but unfortunately for Wheatley, this rhythm would involved Harlequins being camped in and around the Wheatley 22, with their wily forwards trying to create the space for the quick back line. Time and time again Wheatley had to repel attack after attack and time after time Harlequins were left wanting and soon Wheatley were in ascendency.

With the scrums working well, the Wheatley Front row could focus on putting pressure on their opposite numbers, driving them off the ball at every meeting. This finally allowed Wheatley some breathing room, which Irish Jonny soon made the most of, breaking the line and with strong support runners, Wheatley soon crossed the whitewash and French Kev added the first of his successful conversions.

Wheatley could have added a second straight from the Kick off when Jake Durbin collected the ball under pressure, side stepped the onrushing Quin's pack in one movement and set off towards the try line, before being bought down by the full back on the 22. Showing great awareness, he popped the ball up to Joe Hobdell who was clear through for the try the run deserved. Joe, however, failed the first test and decided to use his chest to catch rather than his hands. Luckily for him, the Wheatley pack did their magic in the scrum and the ball was soon in Purple hands. With the Quins pack in disarray, the backs had to commit to the rucks, leaving a 4 on 1 overlap for James Bowley...

...to ignore, getting tackled and knocking on in the process. Again the forwards came to the rescue and the ball was soon in Jamie's hands who ran hard at the tiring Quin's defence crossing for Wheatley's second.

Clearly startled, Quins came back at Wheatley through their lightning fast winger who was intent on getting his mileage up, running from touch line to touchline in a blur before eventually picking his gap and crossing the line to bring the score to 14-5 before half time.

Although winning, Wheatley knew the score was close and the performances even closer. The Wheatley pack were gelling well, dominating the rucks, mauls and scrums. With this in mind, it was decided that everything should change apart from Jake and Joe, who were to remain, giving a first start to Dick Bowley, playing against his former club. The backs were also changed to give Chris and Mark their first appearances, despite Chris protesting that he is a back row and not made for the wing.

With the light fading, the second half kicked off with Mark making his first and last mistake of the game, kicking the ball straight to touch. He soon made up for this however, winning ball on his own five metre line after emerging from the centre of 3 Quin's players before taking off towards the line. With only the full back to beat, an ambitious chip over the top bounced nicely for him to collect and place down under the posts, brushing off the covering winger in the process.

It was soon time for his partner in crime Chris to get in on the act, breaking through the line and showing a burst of pace that proved he was in fact a winger, left his opposition for dead and despite a spirited chase from the Quin's number 9, Chris stretched over the line to secure the Bonus point.

This clearly annoyed the Quins 14, who, after chasing a kick, decided to take his frustration out on Dave Thomas before being dragged away and sternly spoken to by the ref. This didn't seem to sink in as shortly afterwards he was in the bad books again. After creating some space, Shandy drew his man before passing out to Jake Durbin who for some reason found himself on the wing and in space, with their 14 in pursuit. After fending off the initial attack, he was eventually felled just metres short of the line. Unfortunately for the Quin's winger, this was done via a scrag tackle, pulling Durbin down by the scruff of the neck and incensing the Wheatley players and supporters, despite his cries of innocence. Another stern talking to, but the yellow card stayed in the pocket.

The last laugh went to Wheatley, with Chris again proving he is a winger and scored his second try of the day to bring the score up to 40 points to 5.

A brilliant display by the men in purple who put in a massive defensive shift in the first half to limit a dangerous Quins side to only one try.