Quins late show stuns Tigers
Chad Randall crossed twice as Harlequins ran-in four late tries to seal a 40-24 Super League victory at the Twickenham Stoop.
Last Updated: 16/05/10 6:11pm
Chad Randall crossed twice as Harlequins ran-in four late tries to seal a 40-24 Super League victory at the Twickenham Stoop.
The hosts found themselves behind with 10 minutes remaining but rallied strongly to secure their third straight league win.
Chris Melling scored as early as the second minute and Tigers were twice penalised in the first five minutes, giving the Londoners good field position.
Quins cashed in again on eight minutes when Kevin Penny raced on to a superbly judged chip to cross in the corner, and it seemed just a matter of time before the hosts would extend the lead further.
But Rangi Chase intercepted what would have been a try-scoring pass to Luke Dorn which galvanised the visitors, who made the most of the possession to pull a try back before the 20th minute with Joe Westerman going over under the posts.
Both teams looked to run the ball at every opportunity and the tries kept coming before the interval, Luke Williamson, Danny Orr and David Howell combining to send over Randall for his first on the half hour mark.
Tacklers
But Castleford hit back twice before half-time, centre Brett Ferres touching down despite the attention of several tacklers before Liam Huggins rumbled through a hole in the home defence to give the Tigers a half-time lead - Westerman converting all three tries while Orr missed one of his.
Ryan McGoldrick could be in trouble with the RFU after opening the second half with a hit on Melling as he looked to score, McGoldrick penalised while Quins failed to cross.
The match hung in the balance as Howell had a try disallowed for blocking, but the hosts were caught on the hop in the 55th minute as Westerman broke through before sending Steve Snitch over.
Quins were getting desperate and started to look ragged, but Tigers' safety-first approach back-fired in a big way as Quins overwhelmed their opponents in the closing stages.
Randall raced clear for his second in the 68th minute and it wasn't long before Williamson made the most of a lightning break from Penny inside his own half.
The comeback was complete when Orr burrowed over with five minutes left before Howell completed Quins' seven-try haul - Orr kicking four goals with Luke Gale adding another two.