Harlequins 27 London Irish 28: Hewat keeps Quins at bay

London Irish recorded their second win of the season in a match which boiled to a thrilling finish.

An interception try by the Exiles' full-back, Peter Hewat, and a penaltyfrom the same man were enough to see off a magnificent fightback in which Harlequins' England scrum-half, Danny Care, scored a try inadded time.

Quins had looked like they had the match in the bag before half-time, when they built up a 17-point lead and were doing all the hard work. Their left wing, Ugo Monye, had been put over in the 10th minute for his side's first try and the talented No 8 Tom Guest thundered in for a second 15 minutes later.

Both teams were looking to play an expansive game – there was kicking, but not nearly as much as there has been so far in the Premiership this season. More importantly there were tries, three apiece, as well as plenty of action to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. David Strettle, the England player on the other Quins wing, was in great form, slipping through tackle after tackle – two breaks, at each end of the match, led to tries.

With the Quins fly-half, Chris Malone, knocking over penalties and converting the first two tries, things looked bleak for the Exiles. But they kept plugging away; there were thrusting runs by Topsy Ojo and Delon Armitage as well as a fine break by the hooker, David Paice, who got very close.

Quins' second try came courtesy of a piece of injustice, when Irish were penalised for delaying a throw-in. Paice was being treated for an injury but the referee, Dean Richards, awarded a free-kick to Harlequins. They used the field position to set themselves up for that second score, but then all their good work in keeping the Exiles out was undone in first-half added time when Armitage followed a hack ahead to touch down on the left for an unconverted try.

After the interval the Exiles dominated, squeezing penalties and mistakes out of Quins. Hewat eventually landed a three-pointer before helping to send Armitage in for his second try. Having converted that, Hewat scored one of his own when he intercepted the replacement flanker Chris Robshaw's pass and ran 60 metres. That too was converted, and Hewat then added the all-important penalty which made sure that Care's late converted try – his third of the season – was not quite enough.

Quins, who could have moved into the top three, instead were left with a consolation bonus point and a puzzled frown over quite how they managed to lose this match.

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle, G Tiesi, J Turner-Hall, U Monye (T Williams, 78); C Malone (W Luveniyali, 76), D Care; C Jones, G Botha (T Fuga, 69), M Ross (M Lambert, 76), O Kohn (G Robson, 69), J Evans, N Easter (C Robshaw, 50), T Guest, W Skinner (capt).

London Irish: P Hewat; T Ojo, D Armitage, S Mapusua (capt), S Tagicakibau; E Hickey (E Seveali'i, 46), P Richards (P Hodgson, 52); A Corbisiero, D Paice (T Lea'aetoa, 69), F Rautenbach (D Coetzee, 69), N Kennedy, G Johnson (R Casey, 46), R Thorpe, C Hala'Ufia, S Armitage (J Fisher, 80).

Referee: D Richards (Berkshire).

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