Match Centre: Gallagher Premiership: Harlequins 22-14 Exeter Chiefs
Louis Lynagh was one of the try scorer for Harlequins
©Steve Haag
Harlequins 22-14 Exeter Chiefs, Twickenham Stoop
Harlequins managed to hold off Exeter Chiefs with a 22-14 victory as they secured their first win in the ongoing Gallagher Premiership campaign.
The result meant Harlequins now moved to the sixth place in the table with five points while Exeter Chiefs are at fifth after having a win and a defeat apiece in the two matches.
The Chiefs took just four minutes to score the opening try as they won a penalty at breakdown with eventually Ehren Painter powering his way over and Henry Slade kicked the conversion from a 15m distance to make it 0-7.
The scores were levelled by the 9th minute as Jarod Evans and Nick David combined to send Alex Dombrandt close as he offloaded to Jack Kenningham, who dived in the corner and Jarrod Evans kicked the extras.
The Chiefs almost immediately fought back as Tom Cairns powered through but a knock on provided a reprieve for the Quins, who soon seized the lead in the 18th minute as Louis Lynagh collected an inside pass from Jarrod Evans to touchdown. The fly-half kicked the conversion to extend their lead to 14-7.
Around the half-hour mark, Exeter suffered a major setback as Josh Hodge, who had an impressive start to the season had to leave the field with an injury to his left elbow. At the stroke of half-time, Harlequins got their third try as they capitalised on handling errors from the visitors to dive in the corner.
The conversion from Evans drifted wide as the Quins completed the opening half with a 19-7 lead.
Exeter showed better intent at the start of the second half as they moved into Exeter territory but they could not quite get the points they desired. Meanwhile, Quins came close scoring their fourth try but Immanuel Feyi-Waboso thwarted their attack as the gap continued to remain at 12 points.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Dan Frost dived from close range for their second try and Slade's conversion reduced the arrears to five points. Nevertheless, they could not get the final push and instead Will Haydon-Wood landed a three-pointer to steer Quins to their first victory of the competition.
Team line up:
Harlequins: Baxter, Riley, Collier, Launchbury, Hammond, Kenningham, W Evans, Dombrandt, Porter, J Evans, Lynagh, Northmore, Joseph, T Green, David.
Reserves: Jibulu, Els, Kerrod, Lamb, Chisholm, M Green, Edwards, Beard.
Exeter: Sio, Yeandle, Painter, Tuima, Pearson, Roots, Vermeulen, Fisilau, Cairns, Skinner, Wyatt, Hendrickson, Slade, Hammersley, Hodge.
Reserves: Frost, Keast, Iosefa-Scott, Davis, Vintcent, Armstrong, Haydon-Wood, Feyi-Waboso.
