Leeds reached the quarter-finals of the Powergen Cup for only the second time
in the club's history in a dour contest at Headingley in front of a paltry crowd
of 1,238.
The only try of the game came after barely five minutes courtesy of a
controversial penalty try decision from London-based referee Wayne Barnes, who
ruled that Harlequins back-row forward Pat Sanderson had deliberately got in the
way of a Leeds scoring pass in the left-hand corner.
It seemed a harsh decision but the referee had little doubt, and with Duncan
Hodge converting from under the posts the home side were given a big boost
following two recent Zurich Premiership defeats.
The home side maintained the ascendancy at this point and England
international Phil Christophers almost ran through for a score - only to see
Tony Diprose read the danger and intercept Christophers' attempted pass out of
the tackle.
Midway through the half the visitors slowly got back into the game and had a
score disallowed in the corner through leading try scorer Ugo Monye.
Back-row forward James Ponton was sin-binned shortly afterwards after a series
of penalty incidents close to the Leeds line and with the loss of Duncan Hodge
shortly afterwards the home side were greatly disrupted.
But the visitors failed to take advantage and Monye once again saw a score
disallowed following a scrum, allegedly for crossing.
The visitors almost paid a heavy price shortly afterwards when Josh Taumalolo
spilled a high kick from Ross inside his own half and Scott Morgan came close to
extending the home lead.
Leeds extended their lead shortly afterward though with a Gordon Ross penalty
and the home side were able to turn around 10 points in the clear.
If the visitors were to retain any interest in the cup they needed ensure that
they scored first and after 54 minutes Paul Burke finally got some points on the
board for the visitors with a 45-metre penalty.
Both sides made a number of changes going into the final quarter and Ross
seemed to make the game safe for the home side with a penalty with under a
quarter of an hour remaining.
Quins played their final trump card when they brought on former Ireland
Under-21 international fly-half Andy Dunne for Burke - and the young Dubliner
almost had a hand in what would have been a crucial try for the visitors.
When centre Chris Bell broke Dunne continued the move but his pass to his
full-back Taumalolo was poor and the chance went begging.
Dunne did pull back a further three points for the visitors after 74 minutes
with a penalty, but Quins' final chance of saving the match was spoilt two
minutes later when a line-out eight metres from the Leeds line was overthrown
and the home side were able to clear the danger.
Teams
Leeds: Cardey, Scarbrough, Christophers, Botham, Albanese,
Hodge, Stuart-Smith, Shelley, Rawlinson, Holt, Morgan, Hooper,
Persico, Ponton, Salter.
Replacements: Rees for Scarbrough (48), Ross for Hodge (21),
Powell for Holt (71), Hyde for Persico (62).
Not Used: Cusack, Murphy, Barry.
Tries:
Penalty:
Cons: Hodge.
Pens: Ross 2.
Harlequins: J. Taumalolo, Keogh, Bell, Deane, Monye, Burke,
Willis, Worsley, Fuga, Dawson, Davison, Evans, Sanderson, Vos,
Diprose.
Replacements: Dunne for Burke (67), Jones for Worsley (57),
Gomez for Dawson (57), Rudzki for Davison (57),
Winters for Sanderson (29).
Not Used: Hayter, Duffy.
Pens: Burke 2.
Att: 1,238
Ref: Wayne Barnes (RFU).
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