Honourable defeat
 | | Matt Thomas |
LONDON Skolars coach James Massara is taking the positives from Friday's Capital Challenge 56-0 defeat to Harlequins, despite his new-look side receiving a tough baptism of fire from the Super League outfit.
The Skolars' only warm-up match before their league season begins this weekend drew a crowd of more than 600 at the Honourable Artillery Ground in Moorgate, but it ended in disappointment for Massara's side as Quins ran in 10 unanswered tries.
Despite the scoreline Massara, who blooded several new signings during the game, believes the Skolars are in decent shape ahead of the big kick-off on Sunday.
"I'm happy with the workout we managed to get on the pitch and delighted with the event as a whole," said the coach.
"The HAC is one of sport's truly amazing venues and to have over 600 people inside the ground watching rugby league is fantastic.
"The Quins are a good Super League side who were looking to prepare fully for their first game of the season. It was never going to be an easy day at the office for us but I am very pleased with how we applied ourselves for parts of the game.
"I now have a much better idea of where we are in our preparation and we are looking forward to the challenge of Dewsbury on Sunday."
This was a crucial preparation match for both clubs, and among the new faces lining up for Skolars were powerful Scotland winger Dave Arnott, who played for the Quins RL in 2009, and Curtis Cunningham, who has impressed for Great Britain at student level.
But in a match played in pouring rain, the Quins took clinical advantage of the Skolars' unfamiliar line-up and took the game by the scruff of the neck from the first whistle.
In fact the contest was all but over by the 20-minute mark. By that point, Luke Gale, Tony Clubb, Ryan Esders and Chris Melling had all crossed the line to send Quins into a commanding 22-0 lead.
Skolars almost hit back with a try for Smokie Junior, who was only denied by the covering Chad Randall, but on the stroke of half-time Ben Kaye went over for the fifth Quins try and Danny Orr converted.
The second half was largely one-way traffic, as Gale went on to complete his hat-trick, while Martin Smith, Ben Jones-Bishop and Melling all crossed the line.
"Both teams were missing a number of players and I know we will be much better when our players return," added Massara. "Obviously it was very tough today, we set some goals and I will watch the film to see if we met them.
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