Crusaders on the march
Crusaders climbed into the top eight play-off places thanks to a hard-fought comeback victory over Harlequins.
Last Updated: 07/08/10 10:12pm
Crusaders climbed into the top eight play-off places thanks to a hard-fought comeback victory over Harlequins.
Two tries in the final 10 minutes took the home side to an 11th league win and kept the London side rooted to the foot of the engage Super League.
Quins had put 50 points on the Crusaders in their last meeting in June and despite their slump in form since then, the visitors made a fast start.
Wing Jamie O'Callaghan took a neat pass from centre Tony Clubb to score the first try in the right corner.
The hosts hit back after 18 minutes when half-back Rhys Hanbury linked with centre Jason Chan to go over in the corner for another unconverted score .
But it was Quins who went in ahead at the break, full-back Ben Jones-Bishop going on a mazy run towards the right wing, before racing in from halfway to score under the posts and set up Danny Orr for a simple conversion.
That gave Quins a 10-4 half-time lead but the contest deteriorated after the interval.
The only try-scoring opportunities for the next 30 minutes saw Clubb come within inches of the line and, at the other end, wing Luke Dyer vainly chase a high cross-field kick.
Spark
With both sides knocking on almost as often as they held on, the game was badly in need of a spark and, when Orr booted a penalty to take Quins 12-4 ahead, suddenly the Crusaders came to life.
They forced their way down to the other end of the field and, when Tony Martin made inroads on the right wing, Chan arrived onto a flat ball to go through a gap and score.
Full-back Clinton Schifcofske landed the conversion to cut the Crusaders' deficit to just two points, and moments later they went ahead for the first time as Hanbury grabbed his second try with a run from 10 yards that Schifcofske converted.
With just four minutes remaining, that settled what was far from a classic contest, but one that could prove vital in securing Crusaders a first play-off appearance.
