Both teams attempted to focus on playing expansive rugby, choosing to run with the ball wherever possible rather than kicking it away, which made for an entertaining, if error strewn, game for the 900-odd crowd gathered at the Stoop.

Quins enjoyed a large amount of early pressure, with Waisea Luveniyali, De Wet Barry and Seb Stegmann in particular providing early breaks. However, the visitors were keen to get themselves in the game, and a break into the Quins half led to a penalty for the Wanderers, which was successfully sent between the posts by fly-half Nils Mordt's, giving the visitors a 0-3 lead after seven minutes.

Quins' best chance of the half came moments later, as Epi Taione, stationed on the wing, crashed through three Wanderers defenders. The ball was recycled quickly by Junior Poluleuligaga, who broke away, feeding the ball out to the backs, eventually finding the hands of Charlie Amesbury who sped up the wing, passed out to Barry, who looked certain to score. However, a try-saving tackle from Wanderers' full-back, Chris Ashton, drove Barry into touch, and the consequent line-out saw the ball sail away and out of Quins' grasp for the rest of the half.

Strong defence was required from the home side, and was duly given for the majority. A penalty for a deliberate knock-on in the middle of the park, saw Mordt take a quick tap, which was picked up by centre, Grant Anderson, who carried forward, stepping his way around the Quins defence. The tight men took over, and another ruck led to the ball being won by scrum-half, Alan Dickens, who sold the dummy, passed to the stampeding Alex Rae, who crossed the line under the posts. The simple conversion took the score to 0-10 with ten minutes of the half remaining.

Handling errors from both sides saw a scrappy end to the first half, with Mordt extending the visitors lead to 13 by nailing another penalty. Quins created good pressure after, finishing the half in a commanding position camped on the visitors' line, albeit unable to break through before the half-time whistle. 0-13

Quins came out with renewed vigour and started strongly, remaining in the Wanderers' half for an extensive period, but good defence from the Midlands side and some basic handling errors on Quins part meant they were unable to penetrate the try-line and failed to get any points on the board.

A break from Barry 20 minutes in the second half resulted in him being illegally held back, and a small skirmish broke out. The resulting penalty was awarded to Quins, which was taken quickly and some superb handling in the backs saw the ball cross from one side of the pitch to the other, and back again, with Seb Jewell, Barry and Aston Croall playing key roles, before Barry passed out to flanker, Tom Sargeant, who found himself on the wing, and was bustled into touch inches from the try line.

The momentum was with Quins now, and a score was sure to come. A long kick from Wanderers' landed in Amesbury's lap, who fed it out to George Lowe on the wing. The quick winger, fresh from his try-scoring debut with the England U20's and who impressed all game, broke away to sprint half the length of the pitch, to set up Esher and England U20's team mate Stegmann, who was also a constant threat throughout the match, to sail over the line unchallenged, putting the ball down between the posts. The conversion was simple, and ably scored by Luveniyali, who had a very bright game. 7-13

Quins created another great chance after they were awarded a penalty, which was then moved forward 10 for back-chat from Wanderers. EPDG member, Luke Wallace, who looked very comfortable with the step-up in the level of play, picked the ball up and drove forward, before passing out to Jewell, who broke through the centre. The front row carried the ball forward, but the chance ended when the ball was lost in a turnover.

The match became an end-to-end thriller, with both sides looking for that last-gasp score that would take them through to the final. Will Harries looked set to score for the visitors, only to be stopped in a superb double tackle, and his later chip forward for Ashton looked certain to close the game for Wanderers, only for Stegmann to keep pace with the full-back, and put in a try-saving tackle to prevent the score.

Well into injury time, and indiscipline once again reared its ugly head, and Wanderers were awarded a penalty in front of the post. Mordt put the result out of doubt, sending the ball sailing through the posts to clinch the 7-16 win for the visitors, and see them move through to the final.

A disappointing result for Quins, who had, in parts, completely dominated the game. However, the lack of consistency in the set pieces and simple handling errors took the game out of their reach. There were many positives to take however, with the game providing good experience for the younger players in the team, and some strong performances around the park Charlie Matthews impressed on his debut, as well as the established Academy players Stegmann and Lowe creating chance after chance, with Jewell making a big impact when he came on from the bench.

Harlequins A - Amesbury; Stegmann, Masson (Jewell 60mins), Barry, Taione (Lowe 54mins); Luveniyali, Poluleuligaga (Williams 69mins); Rogers (Bracken 51mins (Rogers 55mins)), Croall, Lambert, York, Matthews (Trayfoot 51mins), Sargeant, McMillan (capt), Ross (Wallace 67mins).
Northampton Wanderers - Ashton; Greenhalgh, Ansbro (Elliott 58mins), Anderson (Harries 57mins), Starling; Mordt, Dickens (capt)(Brake 69mins); Dreyer, Gray (Shields 72mins), Vickers, Cannon, Rae, Neale (Waller 69mins), Lewitt, Ingle.

Scorers:
Harlequins - Try: Stegmann; Con: Luveniyali.
Wanderers - Try: Rae; Con: Mordt; Pens Mordt (3).

TIMELINE:
7mins WAND Pen Mordt 0-3
15mins WAND Miss pen Mordt
30mins WAND Try Rae Con Mordt 0-10
40+1mins WAND Pen Mordt 0-13
HALF-TIME HARLEQUINS 0 WANDERERS 13
52mins QUINS Miss pen Luveniyali
66mins QUINS Try Stegmann Con Luveniyali 7-13
83mins WAND Pen Mordt 7-16
88mins WAND Miss pen Mordt
FULL-TIME HARLEQUINS 7 WANDERERS 16