Quins travelled to The Haugh on Saturday to take on Earlston in their 2nd pre-season friendly following a good hit-out against Liberton the previous week, which ended 66-7 in the hosts favour. Due to unavailability through work and Edinburgh Festival drinking "commitments", the squad was a little on the lean side, with only 3 subs, none of which were backs. However, Quins were still able to field a strong squad and the versatility of some players ensured minimum disruption when pre-season niggles and tiredness came into effect. After the glorious sunshine of last week which allowed Quins to attempt to play the fast and expansive game they are seeking to develop, the game was played in almost constant rain, which inevitably would lead to handling errors with the greasy ball and loss of footing on an immaculate Haugh pitch.

Earlston started the brighter of the two teams with Quins failing to secure cleanly from the kick-off and were immediately on the defensive as the Earlston forwards made inroads towards the Quins "22", but the defence held firm and eventually the ball was cleared well by stand-in stand-off Scott Peffers. From here on, it was all Quins who built a number of phases to allow Graeme Lothian to outpace the covering defence on two separate occasions to dot down for two very well executed tries. Peffers determinedly adding the 2nd conversion after the referee commented on his previous missed attempt at goal. Immediately following the kick, Quins again pushed into the Earlston danger zone and only a forward pass from Peffers to make-shift winger Jordan Hyslop prevented another scoring opportunity. Quins continued to dominate proceedings and the forwards made two excellent linebreaks, one from a fantastic Steven Mabon offload to Gary Rodgerson on halfway, who then shipped onto loosehead Dale Johnstone to carry at pace into the Earslton "22" only to throw a wild pass to no one when another phase possibly would have led to quick ball and another score. Craig Kyle made the second incisive linebreak, hitting the line at full pelt, but again the final pass went to deck and the whistle sounded for the end of the first 20 minute period, 12-0 to the Quins.

Not many complaints from the coaches at this stage except to improve the accuracy of the passing, finish off the clearcut chances and to stick to the gameplan. But Earlston had other ideas and Quins began to unravel slightly when both forced and unforced errors put them on the backfoot for much of the next two periods. The Earlston No 10 scored a well taken try breaking the defensive line and chipping over Adam Hall to outpace Ross Lothian to the bouncing ball - but questions were asked by the coaches how the linebreak was able to happen when a "blitz" was called, the defense had numbers, were organised perfectly and line-speed was excellent, only for a failure to "double up" on the big No 10 who clearly had no intentions of doing anything else but having a go himself. This was particularly disappointing after working on defence all last week, setting up the defensive line perfectly, but not making the tackle. A similar situation to Quins only try conceded against Liberton the week before, but a stark reminder that mistakes can be punished, and will be even more so when league business begins in 2 weeks time. It was also a source of frustration that too many players were chatting back to the referee or getting involved in off-the-ball niggles which not only turned the referee against them, but meant a complete loss of focus on the game in hand, something that occurred all too often last season and needs to be addressed if this seasons ambitions to compete at the top end of the table are to be realised.

However, it was encouraging to see that the Quins players themselves had identified the issues in the break before the 4th period and were able to "sort it oot", excecuting a great kick-off reception, box kick and chase to immediately put pressure back on Earlston. This lead to the entire 4th period being played in Earlstons half, and with superior match fitness coming into play (this being Earlstons first outing), Quins were able to score a try from a dominant scrum allowing Hyslop, back in his more accustomed position of No.8, to expertly control the ball and pick up for an easy score, then for Peffers to finally find some daylight and glide through after a "show and go" split the defence. Peffers adding both conversions.

Final score 26-7 and overall a satisfactory performance in tricky conditions against stuffy opponents and a referee that punished the Quins, and rightfully so, for their own lack of discipline on the day. The potential in this Quins squad is obvious, but there is plenty to work on in the next two weeks before we play Selkirk 2nds then get down to business in the league away at Ross High.

Thankyou to Earlston for the run-out and Quins wish them all the best for the season ahead.