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Cassius Cleaves the hero as Harlequins snatch win over Northampton
By PA
Harlequins left it late to snatch victory from Northampton’s grasp with Cassius Cleaves’ second try sealing a 22-19 Gallagher Premiership victory at The Stoop.
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Saints were on course for their first league win on the road for 384 days despite a lengthy list of absentees only for Cleaves to pounce in the 77th minute – giving Quins the lead for the first time.
The score, inspired by man of the match Tyrone Green, came against the run of play and Northampton launched one last attack that was ended by a knock-on.
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Quins’ first home Premiership win since toppling Saracens on October 13 lifts them to fifth in the table, reviving their hopes of finishing in the play-offs while leaving the champions facing an uphill task to qualify.
Both sides had a spring in their step after posting wins in the final round of Investec Champions Cup group action and they produced a memorable encounter full of endeavour and commitment.
Saints were missing 17 players to injury or England duty yet they made a faster start that saw James Ramm produce a try-saving tackle on Cleaves before Tom Pearson touched down in the 10th minute.
Dynamic approach play from George Makepeace-Cubitt and the excellent Tarek Haffar enabled Pearson to cross, although the openside’s smart line also played a key role in the try.
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Quins suffered another setback when James Chisholm limped off with what appeared to be a problem with his right Achilles, but they responded with a 10-phase attack that swung from touchline to touchline and ended with Cleaves scoring.
Haffar was making his presence felt around the field and in the 29th minute he powered over from close range as Northampton put together another eye-catching drive downfield.
Quins dominated a key scrum and then made ground with a line-out drive, setting up the position to launch waves of attacks with Stephan Lewies almost crossing before Tom Lawday arrived to finish the move.
Cleaves advanced close to the whitewash with a muscular run early in the second half but when play swung to the other end Saints broke through with slick handling that was typified by Rory Hutchinson’s deft pass out of the tackle, allowing Tom Seabrook to score.
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The exchange of tries continued, with Quins next to strike through Will Joseph after Green had shown his strength to make the initial inroads.
Harlequins trailed by two points despite Joseph’s finish and it took committed defending to prevent that gap widening in the face of a sustained assault from the champions.
Saints continued to dominate and another spell of sustained pressure ended with a neck roll that let Quins off the hook, but the home side just could not escape the grip of their opponents.
It was breathless stuff and when Harlequins finally moved out of their half, they pounced with Green making a dashing break and Cleaves going over in the left corner to clinch the win.
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