Quins survive late Leeds show
Harlequins survived a brave second half fightback from bottom of the log Leeds Carnegie on Friday night - holding on to record a narrow 30-27 victory over Neil Back's determined outfit at Headingley.
Leading 27-13 just ten minutes into the second half the match looked all but secure for the visitors. Two quick tries though dramatically changed the picture.
The home side began the match in fine form, scoring a try just three minutes after the start, but the majority of the first period belonged to John Kingston's side.
Three tries, two from Chris Robshaw and one from George Low, handed the Director of Rugby-less side a 24-13 lead at the break.
Quins flyhalf Nick Evans started the scoring in the second half, adding his second penalty on 46 minutes, before Leeds fired into life.
First Kevin Myall dotted down, then Tom Denton - the two flank's efforts took the home side's score to within just three points of their highly favoured opponents.
Quins ultimately held on to record a much-needed away win but the spirited performance from the home side will certainly have impressed their coaches and fans.
The Scorers
For Leeds
Tries: Welding, Myall, Denton
Pen: Ford 2
Cons: Ford 3
For Harlequins
Tries: Robshaw 2, Lowe
Pen: Evans 3
Cons: Evans 3
The Teams:
Leeds: 15 Leigh Hinton, 14 Richard Welding, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Scott Barrow, 11 Lee Blackett, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Kearnan Myall, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Erik Lund, 3 Juan Gomez, 2 Vili Ma'asi, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Phil Nilsen, 17 Tommy McGee, 18 Mike MacDonald, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jon Pendlebury, 21 Scott Mathie, 22 Jason Strange, 23 Jonny Hepworth.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 George Lowe, 12 Nils Mordt, 11 Tom Williams, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter (captain) 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Tom Guest, 5 George Robson, 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Tani Fuga, 1 Ceri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Aston Croall, 18 Mark Lambert, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Will Skinner, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Gonzalo Tiesi.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, Bruce Robertson
TMO: David Hudson