Dan Scarborough stole the headlines from South African debutant Braam
Van Straaten as Leeds Tykes bounced back from three successive defeats to secure
victory over Harlequins.
The 20-year-old winger scored two blistering tries, sprinting 80 yards both
times to clinch a win which lifts Leeds off the foot of the table.
Leeds had conceded 169 points in their last three games but Harlequins become
the latest in a high-profile list of sides to have been left stunned at
Headingley.
Bath, Saracens and Leicester have all fallen by the wayside and after making
the early running, Harlequins joined them on Sunday.
Just three minutes in, England wing Dan Luger popped up on the right and, in
acres of space, had time to scoop up his own fumble before sauntering through
the gap to run under the posts.
Paul Burke missed the conversion after the early setback, Leeds slowly began
to work their way back into the game.
After Carl Hogg had been held up over the line, and Harlequins' Will Greenwood
yellow-carded for an infringement at the penalty, Van Straaten landed his first
three points for the Tykes.
And with 23 minutes on the clock, the Tykes surged into a lead with first of
Scarborough's two scintillating tries.
Craig Emmerson elected to run the ball from deep inside his own 22, but the
gamble paid off with excellent effect. The 30-year-old wing found his forwards
and the ball was spun into midfield where Bachop found Shaun Woof who, in turn,
lofted the ball to Scarborough.
The Bradford-born winger showed an electric turn of pace as he chipped Scott
Bemand and then outpaced the hapless Jamie Williams to touch down his own
grubber kick.
Van Straaten added the conversion and then a 40-yard penalty to make it 13-5
on the half-hour.
A Burke penalty reduced the arrears and then Luger, on the stroke of half-time
wasted the opportunity to regain Quins the lead, spilling the ball in the tackle
just yards shy of the line.
And it proved to be a costly error as Leeds emerged after the interval strong
and positive.
From the re-start, Harlequins pushed and probed but Matt Moore's darting break
was ended by an excellent cover tackle from Tom Palmer. Mike Shelley then put in
a big hit on Wood, again just yards short of the Leeds line and from having
their backs against the wall, Leeds counter-attacked in simple but devastating
fashion.
From behind his own line, Van Straaten kicked downfield for Scarborough to
once again charge through gears, outpace Luger and touch down.
The Springbok international slotted the penalty to open a 23-11 lead that,
despite a late second try from Luger, proved enough for Leeds to clinch another
memorable home victory.
Teams:
Leeds: Benson, Scarborough, Woof, van Straaten, Emmerson,
Bachop, Kendra, Shelley, Rawlinson, Kerr, C. Murphy, Palmer,
Hogg, Hyde, Fea'unati.
Not Used: Wring, Luffman, Jones, Mather, O'Reilly, Bartolucci,
Davies.
Tries: Scarborough 2.
Cons: van Straaten 2.
Pens: van Straaten 3.
Harlequins: J. Williams, Moore,
Greenwood, Burrows, Luger,
Burke, Bemand, Starr, Wood, Leonard, Codling, Davison, Winters,
Tamarua, Diprose.
Replacements: Mapletoft for J. Williams (51),
Morgan for Davison (55).
Not Used: Fuga, Dawson, Alesbrook, M. Powell, Bell.
Sin Bin: Greenwood (14).
Tries: Luger 2.
Cons: Burke.
Pens: Burke 2.
Att: 3,401
Ref: N Yates (RFU).
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