NEC Harlequins were narrowly defeated 19-13 in a match dominated by penalty goals.

Castres knocked on straight from the kick off, giving Quins a scrum from which Josh Taumalolo and James Harder combined to make inroads into Castres territory. The defenders infringed at the breakdown and Quins were awarded a penalty twenty metres out which Andy Dunne duly slotted 0-3.

The sin binning of a Castre forward for foul play led to a kick to touch and a good attacking line out for Quins on the Castre 22. The ball was popped to George Harder, then off-loaded to Mike Worsley who made further yards before passing to Taumalolo coming up the left wing but he was shepherded into touch. With Dunne narrowly missing a further penalty, Quins were unable to capitalise on the Castre sin-binning.

Castre began to retain the ball for long periods, drawing level and then taking the lead 6-3 after 24 minutes, with both penalties being awarded following disruption by Quins at the scrum.

Quins levelled the score to 6-6 after 27 minutes, with Dunne punishing the Castres tight head for coming offside at a ruck, but two minutes later Quins gave away another penalty, allowing Castre to move ahead once more. 9-6, 29 minutes.

Castres were awarded another penalty 35 metres out for the front rows coming up in a scrum, again their kicker was successful, 12-6, 33 minutes.

On the stroke of half time Quins gave away a try - a couple of missed tackles and a chip over the defence stretching the French side's lead to 19-6.

In the second half, Castres again had the lion's share of the possession, but illegal use of the boot gave Quins a penalty which was kicked to touch 20 metres out. Quins' lineout again worked well, with a strong rolling maul reaching the line and enabling Dawson to go over to score. Dunne converted to cut the Castres lead to 19-13 with seventeen minutes to go.

The rest of the match was a story of long kicks and knock-ons by both sides, with the final score remaining at 19-13.


Replacements:
74 minutes Hayter replaced by Ceri Jones
79 minutes Worsley replaced by Laurent Gomez