The game looked out of reach for the home side when they were 22-7 down with only 15 minutes left, but a dramatic comeback with tries for Tom Kessell, Paul Fincken and Adrian Griffiths sealed a last minute victory for the National Division One outfit.

The early part of the game saw Quins camped in the Newbury 22. Strong runs from Tongan centre Epi Taione and veteran second row Jim Evans came to nothing thanks to staunch defence from the Blues.

If any evidence were needed of the fact that Newbury were up for a contest, you only had to look at flanker Sean Fox who threw a flurry of punches at a 5m scrum and was lucky not to be yellow carded when the assistant referee pulled play back. From the resulting penalty Quins went for the corner and quick ball from the lineout saw Taione crash through the defence and over the line. The try was disallowed and a penalty given to Newbury for crossing, allowing them to clear their lines.

It took 20 minutes for the deadlock to be broken. A rare foray into the Quins 22 resulted in a try for Newbury back row Jack Bentall after collecting a clever chip from fly half Gareth Griffiths. Griffiths added the extras to make the score 7-0.

Quins then got themselves back into the match with a try apiece for their two wingers. The first came from Charlie Amesbury after Jono Ross picked from the base of a scrum and fed quick ball out to Waisea Luveniyali, who in turn gave a well-timed pass to put Amesbury into the corner. The second try also came from a scrum, this time a disrupted Newbury put in. Ross again picked from the base and the ball went through the hands, with Sam Smith crossing the whitewash. Both conversions were missed leaving the half time score at 7-10 in Quins favour.

The second half began with sustained pressure by Quins. Both Seb Jewell and Ross came close to the line, but were held just short each time. Quins were awarded a penalty on the Newbury 5m line following an altercation between Jim Evans and a Newbury forward. Quins opted for a scrum and following several drives, Luveniyali gave a delightful inside ball to Tosh Masson, who went unopposed under the posts. Luveniyali added the extras to make it 7-17.

From the restart, Aston Croall caught the ball and made a strong run, only to be met by home second row Brad Mockford's elbow. Mockford was sent to think about it for 10 minutes and Quins made the extra man tell with some slick handling in the backs, and a neat dummy from Jewell gave him a try.

Newbury came back at Quins, with a break up the middle and a chip over the Quins defence. Quins replacement scrum half Gareth Williams then made a late challenge on the kicker and was sent to the sin bin. Newbury set up a ruck in midfield and a fine angle by replacement Tom Kessell saw him score under the posts, with Griffiths again converting.

Newbury were now enjoying something of a purple patch, and seemed to have the lion's share of possession. With just five minutes remaining, they won a scrum near the Quins line. An early shove from Quins gave away a free kick and a quick tap put Paul Fincken over the line. This time Griffiths missed the conversion leaving Newbury trailing 19-22.

The Quins restart went deep and found Newbury prop Nathan Catt, who took the ball on a fantastic solo run a full 40 metres up field. As if that wasn't enough for the front row, he then gave a neat inside ball to winger Chris Ridgers. Ridgers made a deft chip through, which was chased and collected by replacement Adrian Griffiths who scored the winning try right on 80 minutes. Gareth Griffiths made the final score 26-22 with the conversion.

Quins will need to be a lot more clinical and convert possession into points if they are to beat Northampton Saints A in the A League semi final on 2nd March.

Newbury Blues: 15. Jonny Hylton, 14. Chris Ridgers, 13. Charlie Perry, 12. Marc Sweeney, 11. Martin Nutt, 10. Gareth Griffiths, 9. Waylon Gasson, 8. Scott Witcomb, 7. Sean Fox, 6. Jack Bentall, 5. Brad Mockford, 4. Ien Ascroft-Leigh, 3. Tom Fidler, 2. Joe Clark, 1. Nathan Catt.

Replacements: 16. Harry Pendleton, 17. Rob Green, 18. Paul Fincken, 19. Adrian Griffiths, 20. Tom Kessell, 21. Dave Birtwhistle, 22. Ross Noonan.

Quins A: 15. Waisea Luveniyali, 14. Charlie Amesbury, 13. Tosh Masson, 12. Epi Taione, 11. Sam Smith, 10. Seb Jewell, 9 Junior Polu, 8. Jono Ross, 7. Neil McMillan, 6. Tom Sargeant, 5. Jim Evans, 4. James Inglis, 3. Peter Bracken, 2. Chris Brooker, 1. Aston Croall

Replacements: 17. Alex Rogers, 19. Chris York, 20. Gareth Williams, 21. George Lowe, 22. Seb Stegmann