Rampant Leeds gave themselves a fighting chance of qualifying for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals as they clinched second spot in Pool Two with a seven-try, bonus-point demolition of sorry Cardiff.

The rout did not enable the Tykes to leapfrog eventual group winners Perpignan at the top of the table but it meant they climbed to 20 points and a try tally of 18 in the pool.

That surpassed the 16 tries scored in Pool Three by Stade Francais, who also finished second on 20 points, and only a Leinster win at Bath this afternoon would prevent Leeds from claiming a last-eight berth.

Andre Snyman (2), Tom Palmer, Tom Biggs, man of the match Justin Marshall and David Doherty went over for tries for Leeds, who belied their lowly position in the Guinness Premiership with this sublime display, while their other five-pointer came from a penalty try.

Cardiff, who finished third in the group, were a shambles for the majority of the encounter, with even New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu shackled into anonymity.

The build-up to the match had been overshadowed by the controversial awarding of five group points to Leeds following the cancellation of their clash with Calvisano last week.

The Tykes had refused to play on the Italians' frozen pitch and had been awarded a bonus-point win, giving them a qualification lifeline.

Cardiff took the decision with dignity but felt it set a dangerous precedent for similar future situations.

The potentially incendiary undertones did not spill on to the pitch however, with both sides focusing on their need to secure five points and rely on results elsewhere.

With Cardiff in disarray for much of the contest, Leeds were the only team likely to attain that target. The ubiquitous Marshall notched their first points with a 30-metre drop goal and the lead was increased further thanks to Snyman's 13th-minute try.

It owed much to the nimbleness of lock Palmer, who turned over possession from a ruck in midfield, allowing Chris Bell to feed Snyman who scampered along the right flank to ground.

Leeds' attacking play was typically bold and they were handed more ball as a result of the Blues' malfunctioning set-piece, particularly at the line-out.

The Tykes' second try arrived in the 28th minute, Palmer crashing over from close range following a catch and drive from a five-metre line-out.

The visitors' first real assault into the Leeds half brought them a penalty and three points from the boot of fly-half Nick Macleod.

But that provided them with only brief respite as minutes later, Leeds grabbed their third try.

After a lengthy period of forward bludgeoning, jet-heeled winger Biggs, irrepressible throughout, received a mispass from Rob Vickerman and dived between two covering defenders in the left corner to score. Gordon Ross nailed his third successive conversion to give his side a 24-3 half-time lead.

The interval failed to halt the Leeds juggernaut. A bullocking run by Kiwi scrum-half Marshall six minutes into the second half broke the Cardiff cover and he popped up an inviting pass for Snyman to go over in the right corner for his second try.

The beleaguered Blues' agony was compounded when scrum-half Mike Phillips was yellow-carded for pure cynicism at a ruck near their own line in the 53rd minute.

And from the resulting scrum, further indiscretions by Cardiff's overpowered forwards gave referee Christopher Berdos no option but to award Leeds a penalty try.

Marshall capped his imperious display with a try of his own in the 66th minute, the former All Black wheeling over the line from the base of a scrum.

The Tykes could even live with the sin-binning of Gavin Kerr late on as substitute Doherty rounded off a consummate home display with a breakaway seventh try.