When the dust finally settles on this encounter, and the video analyses is fully dissected the Hinch backs will surly rue the missed opportunity they had to finally claim a victory over the Deramore Park side. What a performance to was from the Hinch pack they were magnificent to a man but they were let down by a backline that never used the massive wind advantage they had in the second half.

Despite the heavy snow fall on Thursday the Ballymacarn pitch was in excellent condition for this much-awaited clash with Harlequins. There was a genuine belief in the Hinch camp that a first ever victory over Quins was a distinct possibility so with a full side available the Hinch won the toss and elected to play into the stiff breeze that was blowing straight down the pitch from Slieve Croob.

Most of the early play gave the County Down men a chance to get their forwards involved and they took play directly to the Quins pack with some impressive driving rugby. Matt Miles, Stuart Lamb, Chris Napier, John Gunson and Lewis Johnston all made their presence felt with strong runs, Michael Graham and Chris Stevenson cleared out magnificently and Willie Faloon was popping up everywhere.

Harlequins never let up, they knew it was vital to get points on the board with the wind at their backs, and when Hinch did let their guard slip by conceding penalties, Willem Slabbert was on had to punish those mistakes. The South African winger converting three successful penalty goals in the 8th, 24th and 35th minutes to give the Quins a 0-9 lead.

The only real opportunity the home side had to score came in the 40th minute when Quins conceded a penalty on their 22, just left of the posts, but Mark Scott pushed his shot wide leaving the Hinch to turn round 0-9 down at halftime.

Not an unreasonable target to attain with what was a 14-point wind at their backs. Kick the corners and keep the Quins pinned in their 22, then build from there using the Hinch pack to drive play forward, it was a simple game-plan that never materialised.

Ten minutes into the second half and Scott had another fairly easy shot at goal but this time his kick drifted right of the posts, things were not just going the Hinch way. Four minutes later Aaron Ferris had a two man overlap 5 metres from the Quins line but went

himself and was tackled short. Jonny Cullen had a dart for the whitewash in the 57th minute but was held up over the line by a determined Quins defense. Hinch had to make the pressure count and in a series of 5-metre scrums they pushed Quins into retreat, Willie Faloon picking up and twisting over to score in the 59th minute. Scott failed to convert leaving the home side now trailing by 4 points with 20 minutes remaining.

A big last quarter was anticipated from the home side but it never came, the pack did provide the platform and they never stopped working providing ball for the backs to use. As Quins could see the winning post in sight they began to pile added pressure on the Hinch backs, racing through on dropped passes and forcing mistakes.

Slabbert added a fourth penalty goal in the 63rd minute in what was the first occasion the visitors made any inroads into Hinch territory during the second half.

Now trailing by 7 points the home side pressed for a converted try to bring them level, but as in the previous league encounters this season the Hinch pressed their self destruct button in the 73rd minute. As the Hinch backs attempted to move the ball wide it arrived at second centre Stuart Morrow who had his attempted clearence kick charged down by former Ulster centre Shane Stewart. Darren Cave picked up the loose ball, attacked the Hinch defense, then put Stewart clear to race at the right hand corner to secure victory and deny the Hinch a losing bonus point.

This score proved to be the killer blow and the Hinch men could not get back into a decent scoring position leaving them to wonder just what do they have to do to get themselves back to winning ways.

Harlequins deserved their 4 league points, they were much smarter than the Hinch behind the scrum and that is the lesson which must be learned from this game. When you have a wind advantage you must use it.

Derek Suffern will not have long to regroup from this one as Limerick side Young Munster travel to Ballynahinch next week. Munsters are in second place in the League and they had Paul O’Connell in their ranks on Saturday when they defeated Buccaneers 12-10 at Clifford Park. Things don’t get any tougher than this so another big performance from the pack will be required let us hope the backs don’t serve up a repeat performance.