Leeds began in sprightly fashion isolating Tani Fuga to win a seventh-minute penalty by

Leeds began in sprightly fashion, isolating Tani Fuga to win a seventh-minute penalty by Braam van Straaten, and adding to their lead through the same source after Pat Sanderson was penalised at a ruck.Yet almost all of the eye-catching stuff came from the home side. In Alex Codling and Tony Diprose, Quins had two safe pairs of hands at the line-out: Codling jumping in the middle and Diprose athletically executing something close to a Fosbury Flop on a couple of occasions at the tail.Only the obdurate and well-organised Leeds defence prevented Quins finishing off a variety of rolling mauls, not that Nick Duncombe did his side many favours by too often exploring the short side when the ball came his way at scrum-half. In among the trampling feet and Quins’ heaving bodies there were sterling efforts by Mike Shelley and the Leeds pack, particularly since referee Lander saw nothing untoward each time a charge came to grief within centimetres of the Leeds line. When Burke chose the kick, mostly in the early stages, Leeds’s full-back Danny Scarbough belied a reputation for shaky defence by handling the barrage with aplomb.And it was entirely in keeping with the flow of events that Leeds claimed a try midway through the first half with a raid following a Quins error. A promising backs move came to grief when Nathan Williams spilled the ball on halfway and Scarbrough ran in his ninth try of the season. Burke’s third and fourth penalties, after 55 and 72 minutes, confirmed Quins’ dominance, which had its late, late reward through Gollings.Harlequins: N Williams; M Moore (R Jewell, 59), W Greenwood, C Bell, B Gollings; P Burke, N Duncombe (S Bemand, 57-62, 68); J Leonard, T Fuga (K Wood, 59), L Gomez (J Dawson, 59), B Davison (J Evans, 59), A Codling, A Vos (capt; A Tiatia, 19-25), T Diprose, P Sanderson (Tiatia, 59).Leeds: D Scarbrough; W Stanley, T Davies, B van Straaten, C Emmerson; G Ross, D Hegarty (A Dickens, 59); M Shelley (capt), M Regan, M Holt, S Campbell (C Murphy, 63), T Palmer, C Mather, I Feaunati, D Hyde (A Popham, 63).Referee: S Lander (Merseyside).. Edge Hall Road staged one of the greatest cup ties in the history of the RFU’s knockout competition.

In terms of high drama, tension and excitement, it will be difficult to better. Northampton squeezed through to the quarter finals of the Powergen Cup at the end of a shattering 100-minute contest. The Lancashire club who are fourth in National One played at a level not seen since their days as a First Division club which ended in 1997.Orrell, clearly the underdogs from the start, performed aggressively and ferociously throughout a memorable encounter that finished in near darkness. They were heroic, none more so than 24-year-old flanker Nick Easter who scored a hat-trick on 34, 51 and 66 minutes.Exhausted after such a gruelling effort Easter said: “It was a very tiring match and we were very unlucky. But credit to Northampton for coming back when we were ahead by 10 points on 92 minutes.”But the Saints showed that they have the qualities of a Premiership side.

And I’m really proud of all our boys because we rose to the challenge.”Another outstanding Orrell performance was delivered by the No 8 Drew Hickey, who stormed all over the park to create several dangerous moments that the Premiership side found difficult to handle.At the end of 80 minutes the crowd thought they may well have seen everything in terms of thrills and spills. However, the 10 minutes each way of extra time was just as heart stopping.First blood went to Orrell who moved ahead 39-34 on 88 minutes as flanker Ben Lewitt scored a dramatic try under the posts and, with Richard Welding converting, Orrell went ahead 41-34. Four minutes later the excitement rose even further as Welding put over a penalty, stretching Orrell’s lead to 10 points.Northampton, meanwhile, must have been wondering just what had hit them. Nevertheless they showed great character to storm back to clinch a famous win. Incredibly, the Saints scored three tries in added time – on 95, 98 and 100 minutes. Scrum half Ian Vass scored twice and, in between, centre Peter Jorgensen completed his hat-trick.At the end of such a gripping and nail-biting encounter both sides left to a standing ovation from a crowd of 1,100. Considering the quality of the Cup tie, it should have been attended by several thousand more.Orrell will no doubt be regretting the four goals – two penalties and two conversions that were missed.