Bath 11 – 6 Cardiff Harlequins

Zenith West Division 1

13th December 2008

Defeat to Cheltenham earlier in the season put the skids under Cardiff’s title bid, but with the battle for promotion a three-horse race along with Bath, this fixture provided a huge opportunity for Quins to get back on track. However, those promotion hopes were buried in the dustbin by the end of the first quarter and whilst defeat always stings, the manner of Harlequins’ capitulation will provide plenty for the players to mull over during the Christmas break.

The writing was on the wall within 20 seconds. Bath stalwart Ken Murray beat Cardiff’s Chris Lee to the loose ball, and dodged past him a full 35 yards from goal. Murray pushed towards the net, whilst the Quins defence – instead of sliding to Lee’s rescue – stood by and watched. The Bath midfielder was allowed to run, unchecked and untroubled, and unsurprisingly beat keeper Matt Grindle from all of 5 yards. The wake-up call was not heeded, and Cardiff soon found themselves 2-0 down without having touched the ball. Despite the early setback, Quins’ first attacking possession was promising, as quick ball movement was complemented by off-ball player movement designed to disrupt the Bath slide package. It succeeded in producing a shot, but not in troubling Dan Weil in the Bath goal, who saved easily and quickly launched a counter-attack. Again, Harlequins lacked the organisation and communication to effectively deal with the offense and their hosts extended the lead. A fourth goal, resulting from individual defenders over-committing and a distinct lack of cover from teammates, completed the first quarter rout. At the other end, in their fleeting moments of possession, Cardiff were wasteful and hesitant to step up to the mark. The promise of their first attack was forgotten, and the strong Bath defence were tested but never troubled by a static and unconvincing Quins offense.

Harlequins' defender Nick Panayidis gets a good poke check on Bath's US import, Nick Cross

Needless to say, some strong words of advice were offered at the break but Cardiff’s response was pitiful. By the time Bath had extended their lead to 5-0, Harlequins had mustered just two shots since the start of the game. Cardiff finally registered their interest thanks to their one example of grit and guts, Wales midfielder Alan Croft. Playing in attack due to an injured ankle, Croft opened the Quins account with a devastating inside-roll dodge and finish, which left his defender stranded. He scored a second minutes later with a ripsnorter that nailed the top corner, but Cardiff’s lack of ideas in attack was telling whilst Bath continued to be surgical in exposing the lack of communication in defence. Two more goals for the west country side compounded their lead and Cardiff went into halftime trailing 7-2, to reflect on a performance that one supporter – who’d travelled two hours to watch the game – described as “shameful”.

Alan Croft tries to get things moving for the Harlequins attack

Harlequins’ second half performance went some way to restoring their pride, but the deficit was to get no closer than 4 goals. Lee won the ball from the restart and Harlequins appeared to have found some confidence. The visitors put together a period of sustained pressure producing several shots, recycling the ball each time, but could not find a way past Weil. But just as the pressure was beginning to tell and larger gaps started to appear, Cardiff lost their concentration and gave up possession cheaply. Bath countered quickly, and attackman Mike Carey danced past his marker to extend the lead. Harlequins replied through Will Barrett and Luke Probert, both of whom scored on man-up situations, but Bath’s Doug Mackay found the net once again to maintain his team’s advantage. By the final quarter, Bath were finding it tougher to get through the Cardiff backline but their dominance in the ground ball battle afforded the hosts a solid platform of possession, and they continued to pressure Grindle’s goal which eventually resulted in two more scores. Croft completed his hat-trick and then added his fourth with another blistering outside shot but the damage had been done early on and Bath were deserving 11-6 winners.

The result all but ends Cardiff’s title challenge. They now have three weeks to assess what went wrong, and half a season to put it right. That Bath were on brilliant, sparkling form will come as no consolation – if Harlequins are to reach any higher in the echelons of lacrosse, they must learn to produce their best form in the biggest matches. To have failed to do so once could be excused as a blip. To have failed a second time suggests Cardiff’s problems are more deep-rooted.

Photos courtesy of Bath LC