Leinster close on last eight place

Brian O'Meara, the Leinster scrum-half, out-scored Gerald Merceron by four penalties to three at Donnybrook last night to lead Leinster to a 12-9 win over Montferrand and put the Irish side on the verge of a place in the last eight of the Heineken Cup.

The victory was Leinster's fourth in succession in Pool 4 and their second win in a week over over their closest rivals. In last night's other Heineken Cup matches, Llanelli and Glasgow fought back to beat Sale Sharks and Bourgoin, respectively, to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.

Montferrand were given a hostile reception at Donnybrook where supporters had not forgotten David Bory's knees-first sliding tackle on Gordon D'Arcy during last week's 23-20 Leinster victory in France. But the French side were quickly into their stride, with Merceron's penalty kick from in front of the posts putting them ahead inside the first minute.

The French side went into half-time 9-6 in front, but Leinster succeeded in opening the game up after the restart and only some strong French defending prevented the centre David Quinlan from crossing for a try. Even when Victor Costello looked to be in at the corner on 50 minutes, his rival back row Alex Audebert was somehow able to drag him back from the line.

O'Meara missed a 56th-minute penalty, the first stray place kick of the night, but made sure five minutes later from an almost identical position to the right of the posts, and did so again on 69 minutes as the home side deservedly took a winning lead at 12-9.

Llanelli produced a thrilling late show to keep alive their Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes at Stradey Park after Sale Sharks came within minutes of an unlikely away win.

The Sharks, who had suffered three successive Pool 3 defeats, led 12-9 after 75 minutes. But a try from the American international David Hodges, on the field as a half-time substitute for the injured Scott Quinnell, edged Llanelli ahead. The fly-half Stephen Jones kicked his fourth penalty three minutes later to ensure that Llanelli preserved their two-year unbeaten home European record with a 17-12 win.

Llanelli had been given a major fright by the Sharks, whose elimination was confirmed with this defeat. Sale went ahead with first-half tries from the flanker Apollo Perelini and the centre Graeme Bond, while Llanelli relied exclusively on Jones' boot for points. The half-time departure of Quinnell with a rib injury compounded Llanelli's problems, and they looked a pale shadow of the side that won 30-19 at Sale last Friday. Until Llanelli eventually grabbed victory, the only similarity with that game was a mass punch-up on 43 minutes.

Llanelli's decisive score arrived when the centre Matthew Watkins kicked over the Sale defence, and Hodges grasped a kind bounce to score. With Bourgoin losing 13-12 at Glasgow, Llanelli's evening finished on a double high, as wins over Bourgoin and Glasgow should now ensure their passage to the last eight.

Glasgow beat Bourgoin thanks to a late penalty at Hughenden. Entering injury time Glasgow trailed to four Alexandre Peclier penalties, only for Calvin Howarth to clinch the win and make amends for a string of misses when it mattered most.