Former South Africa centre Braam van Straaten showed Leeds what they will be
missing next season as he booted an 84th-minute conversion to snatch a last-gasp
victory over Harlequins at Headingley.
The Tykes seemed to be heading for defeat after an inspired kicking display
from Paul Burke had pushed Quins into a six-point lead, an advantage Leeds did
not seem capable of overcoming.
But Diego Albanese ghosted through for a try three minutes into injury time
and van Straaten, who is leaving the Tykes for Sale Sharks next season, coolly
slotted over the ensuing high-pressure conversion to clinch the result.
An exchange of penalties in the opening 10 minutes saw Leeds come out on top
with van Straaten's two goals sandwiching three points from Burke, but the
Springbok international chose the wrong option soon after.
The Tykes had broken from their own half with men stacked up on the left but
when the ball reached van Straaten he chose to chip ahead, wasting a clear
overlap as his kick was easily picked up by the Quins defence.
Leeds continued to press with Scotland fly-half Gordon Ross probing the
visitors' right wing with a perfectly-weighted kick, but England star Dan Luger
was on hand catch the ball and run it out of danger.
Full-back Albanese had shown some promising touches early on and he had a hand
in Leeds' opening try, feeding Dan Hyde before the Tykes back rower released
Alan Dickens down the left flank.
The Tykes scrum-half raced up field before drawing the last line of Quins'
ragged defence and slipping the scoring pass to Chris Hall. Inevitably van
Straaten added the conversion.
Quins broke with purpose from the back of a 36th minute scrum but just as
possession had been worked out wide full-back Nathan Williams kicked the ball
straight into the arms of the waiting Albanese.
A 50-metre penalty from Burke concluded the first half before a piece of
individual brilliance from Luger a minute after the break saw the Quins winger
carve his way through the middle of Leeds' defence to cross near the posts.
Burke converted to level the score, while moments later van Straaten missed a
long-range penalty opportunity which would have nudged his side back into the
lead.
Leeds were on the back foot now as Quins poured forward in search of a rare
away win, forcing the home team into making another infringement which Burke
punished by landing the ensuing penalty.
The Tykes were dealt a further blow in the 59th minute when England A back Dan
Scarbrough, playing at centre for Leeds, was carried off with what appeared to
be a knee injury.
Burke struck again for Quins, this time with a drop goal, before the Tykes
launched a late fightback which was almost halted by Luger's try-saving tackle
on Winston Stanley.
But Leeds could not be denied in the 84th minute when they created a large
overlap on the right for Albanese to cross and van Straaten made no mistake with
the extras, kicking the Tykes to an unlikely victory.
Teams:
Leeds: Albanese, Stanley, Scarbrough, van Straaten, Hall, Ross,
Dickens, Shelley, Regan, Kerr, C. Murphy, Palmer, Mather, Hyde,
Popham.
Replacements: Holt, Rawlinson, P. Murphy, Fea'unati, Hegarty,
Davies, Emmerson.
Tries: Hall, Albanese.
Cons: van Straaten 2.
Pens: van Straaten 3.
Harlequins: N. Williams, Luger, Greenwood, Deane, Gollings,
Burke, Fulton, Jones, Tiatia, Leonard, Rudzki, Miall, Winters,
Vos, Diprose.
Replacements: Fuga, Dawson, Evans, Sheriff, Bemand, Monye, Satala.
Tries: Luger.
Cons: Burke.
Pens: Burke 4.
Drop Goals: Burke.
Att: 4,305
Ref: Chris White (RFU).
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