Quins squeeze past Warrington

Quins squeeze past Warrington

Henry Paul scored his first try since returning to rugby league as Harlequins survived a late scare to beat Warrington at The Stoop by 30-28.

Quins built an early 12-0 lead courtesy of tries from Michael Worrincy and Rob Purdham, goaled by Paul, and held the lead up to the break despite plenty of Warrington pressure.

Lee Briers gave Wire hope with a try three minutes into the second half but just before the hour Pat Weisner claimed Quins? third try. Paul tagged on the conversion and then grabbed a try himself on 64 minutes to put the hosts firmly in control.

Logan Swann claimed Warrington?s second try on 69 minutes and Briers goaled. But within a minute Quins hit back with a try from Solomon Haumono and when Paul converted Warrington looked dead and buried with 10 minutes remaining.

But the Wire had other ideas and Richie Barnett scored the first of three tries in five minutes in the 75th minute.

Simon Grix struck twice in the final two minutes and Briers landed both goals to cut Quins? lead to two points at the death. But there was no time for Wire to find another score.

It had seemed rather different in the first half when Quins weathered a huge amount of Warrington pressure but somehow kept a clean sheet.

Worrincy opened the scoring after 11 minutes and Purdham claimed a second try three minutes later.

Warrington found all sorts of different ways of failing to score. Swann came up with a double movement and Chris Bridge failed to properly ground his own grubber kick.

There were also knock-ons and forward passes that ended promising moves. Briers inspired Warrington in the 43rd minute with an 80-metre interception try.

Quins restored their 12-points advantage after 58 minutes when Weisner went over.

Paul dived between two tacklers for his landmark try, converted his fourth kick and then added a penalty to give Quins a 26-6 lead which looked unassailable.

Harlequins RL: Paul, Smith, Lucky Luisi, Purdham, Bradley-Qalilawa, Weisner, Dorn, Temata, Randall, Mills, Worrincy, Haumono, Mbu. Replacements: Tookey, Heckenberg, Lolohea, Budworth.

Warrington: Grose, Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Barnett, Briers, Bridge, Leikvoll, Clarke, Wood, Wainwright, Swann, Westwood. Replacements: Mark Gleeson, Lima, Hilton, Grix.

Harlequins RL (12) 30. Tries: Worrincy, Purdham, Weisner, Paul, Haumono. Goals: Paul 5.

Warrington (0) 28. Tries: Briers, Swann, Barnett, Grix 2. Goals: Briers 4.

Referee: R Laughton (Barnsley)

Att: 3,691