Abu Dhabi Harlequins progressed to the final of the Danway Gulf Cup following a hard fought battle against the Dubai Dragons. The 24-12 victory continues the team’s season-long unbeaten run.

The tie was bolstered by the return to action of talismanic captain Alistair Thompson, who had been sidelined for nearly two months by injury. Tony Matthews also returned at full back in place of Tom Calnan, who had dislocated his shoulder in the previous week’s encounter against Doha.

The game kicked off in perfect conditions at Al Ghazal, cheered on by a large crowd which had just witnessed the Quins’ U18 side convincingly beat the Arabian Gulf’s representative side.

The visitors opened the scoring in the ninth minute, but Quins were level within 60 seconds as man of the match, John O’Connor, powered over the line for his first of three tries. The game unfolded at a frenetic pace with both sides battling for possession. The sides reached half-time at 12-12.

The interval was the turning point of the game, and Abu Dhabi dominated the second half with some exciting running and solid defence. The centre pairing of O’Connor and Tom Fisher were terrorising the away side, with pressure that paid off handsomely with tries from O’Connor in the 54th and 73rd minute to complete his hat-trick and seal the victory.
“We were clinical when we got our chances, but Dragons were never out of it,” said the Quins chairman Richard Harris.

The Quins will face Bahrain in the final after they defeated the Dubai Exiles at home 37-10.

Abu Dhabi’s next match will be against the old foe Dubai Exiles in the Prosperity league on 29th January.

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