Sat 4 Jan 2025
An early pitch inspection at Valhalla following a cold snap confirmed the game was on, much to the delight of players and supporters eager for 2025 to start.
It didn’t take long for Quins to ignite the crowd, with Ryan Morgan crossing the whitewash after just 9 minutes. David Priddy added the extras to make it 7-0. Quins continued their early dominance, and 20 minutes later, Dylan Pearce electrified the field with a blistering run from deep in the Quins 22. Pearce offloaded perfectly to Ed Wander inside the Sulians’ 22, allowing Wander to touch down for the second try. However, the celebrations were dampened shortly after as Bradley Hodge left the field due to injury, with David Lloyd stepping in. Old Sulians then clawed one back with a try of their own, narrowing the scoreline. The setbacks for Quins continued when Dylan Pearce was forced off, replaced by Jacob Hilder. But the Quins’ pack stood firm and delivered again. With just 5 minutes left in the first half, a powerful line-out drive saw Georges Beresford quickly feed Ryan Morgan, who secured his second try of the afternoon. David Priddy’s reliable boot made it 19-5 heading into half-time.
The second half saw Quins shuffle their lineup, with Bradley Hodge returning to replace Billy McGowan and Enan Jones coming on for Brandon West-Ford. Old Sulians struggled with discipline, being marched back twice for backchat, which set the stage for Quins’ fourth and final try. A penalty deep in Sulians’ territory allowed the forwards to drive before the ball was worked out to the backs, where Ed Wander claimed his second try, sealing the bonus point. The game wasn’t without drama, as Quins displayed tremendous defensive resilience to hold up Sulians in the final 15 minutes. Paul Martin replaced the returning Hodge, and Quins had to dig deep after David Priddy was shown a yellow card with 9 minutes remaining.
At full-time, the whistle confirmed a 24-5 victory—a well-deserved win and a strong start to 2025 for Bristol Harlequins.
Report: Dean Jones
Try(s): Ryan Morgan (2) (sponsored by VX3) Ed Wander (2) (sponsored by Heritage Sheds and Fencing)
Conversion(s): David Priddy (2) (sponsored by Living Colour Tattoo)
Yellow Card(s): David Priddy
