Edinburgh took another leap towards becoming the first Scottish team to reach
the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup by demolishing Leeds at Headingley.
Two dramatic interception tries smashed the Tykes' dream of progressing - and
paved the way for a section showdown with champions Toulouse in France a week on
Saturday.
Gunners set the tone from the start, surging into attack and forcing the Tykes
back into their 22 with a series of telling raids, and it was no surprise when
the visitors edged in front with a Brendan Laney penalty.
Then just as Leeds began to look threatening, Edinburgh got the big break.
The alert Simon Taylor pounced to snatch Tim Walsh's floated pass and cleverly
released wing Simon Webster.
With the Leeds backline committed, Webster was uncatchable as he gleefully
glided 70 metres to touch down, setting up a simple conversion for Laney.
It was no shock when Leeds reappeared for the restart with Scotland ace Gordon
Ross at stand-off in place of the jittery Walsh.
Ross and his team-mates knew they needed quick points to stay in the contest,
but they were rocked by another double blow.
Laney banged over an opportunist drop-goal from 30m and Marcus Di Rollo then
snapped up the second interception score.
This time it was Dan Hyde's speculative inside pass that was ripe for the
picking and Di Rollo's stroll provided Laney with another formality of a kick.
The plight of the Tykes grew even deeper when Hyde was yellow-carded for an
off-the-ball incident.
Edinburgh continued to run the show, but they had to rely on a second Laney
penalty to rule out any chance of a home fightback.
Teams:
Leeds: Cardey, Christophers, Snyman, Davies, Albanese, Walsh,
Walker, Shelley, Regan, Holt, Murphy, Palmer, Ponton, Hyde,
Popham.
Replacements: Botham for Cardey (70), Ross for Walsh (40),
Powell for Holt (59), Persico for Ponton (59).
Not Used: Cusack, Morgan, Rigney.
Edinburgh: Lee, Webster, Di Rollo, Laney, Joiner, Paterson,
Blair, Jacobsen, D. Hall, Smith, Hines, Murray, A. Dall,
A. Hogg, Taylor.
Replacements: Philip for Di Rollo (62),
Brannigan for Smith (64), Kellock for Murray (64).
Not Used: Di Ciacca, Strokosch, Burns, Southwell.
Tries: Webster, Di Rollo.
Cons: Laney 2.
Pens: Laney 2.
Drop Goals: Laney.
Att: 3,354
Ref: Donal Courtney (Ireland).
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