Newcastle Falcons soared towards safety on Friday night with a hard-fought 33-18 victory over Harlequins.
The Falcons went looking for back to back victories for the first time in almost 2 years after their away win at relegation rivals Leeds just 5 days ago.
Lions prop Euan Murray was recalled along with flanker Brent Wilson in what were the only 2 changes for the home side.
Harlequins made the long trip to the north-east knowing a win was vital in order to stay in the play-off hunt.
Worcester-bound Ceri Jones was the Quins' only change as they looked to bounce back from last week's defeat to London Irish.
It took just 3 minutes for Harlequins to open the scoring after some good work by the Quins pack allowed the ball to be spread wide and Tom Williams crossed in the corner. Rory Clegg converted.
Newcastle quickly hit back through a Jimmy Gopperth penalty after Quins were penalised at the scrum in front of their own posts.
Both sets of forwards where then involved in a series of flare-ups and handbags which eventually led to Falcons' loose head Jon Golding, and Quins tight head James Johnston, spending 10 minutes in the bin.
Johnston was joined in the bin by teammate Ceri Jones in the 23rd minute after he deliberately obstructed Micky Young's pass from an offside position, in what looked to be a dangerous Newcastle attack. Gopperth kicked the resulting penalty to leave them trailing 6-7.
More good work from the Quins' forwards led to a penalty and Clegg was successful with his 2nd kick of the night and in doing so, edging his side 4 points clear.
Newcastle struck back quickly through another Gopperth penalty in the 34th minute after Quins' Dave Moore came into a ruck from the side.
Shortly before half time play was stopped while Falcons' full back received treatment for a leg injury before being stretchered off.
There was still time for Quins to drop the scrum for a 4th time 45 metres out and the ever reliable Gopperth kicked his side into a 12-10 half time lead.
Clegg eased Quins back in front after the break with another penalty but it was Newcastle who began to look more dangerous when running with the ball in hand.
An electric break from Tane Tu'ipulotu allowed substitute Alex Gray to scramble over after barely being on the pitch for 60 seconds. Gopperth converted to give the home side a 6 point lead.
Fielden then went over again for the Falcons following some more impressive running, this time from scrum half Young. Gopperth then landed a touchline conversion to all but seal the game for Newcastle.
Quins wouldn't lie down however and when Mike Brown crossed, the hosts seemed set for a nervy ending. Unfortunately for the neutral, Clegg missed the subsequent conversion and with that Harlequins hopes appeared to fade.
With 5 minutes remaining, Young dived over and Gopperth slotted the extras to complete the scores and give Newcastle back to back victories for the first time since the 08/09 season.
Van der Heijden was once again instrumental in the set-piece for Newcastle and the win places extra pressure on Leeds ahead of the relegation decider on April 9th at Kingston Park.
For Harlequins, it will now take an almost faultless run-in if they want to secure a play-off place as they look set to remain in mid table obscurity.
.jpg "Andre Esterhuizen scored the opening try for Harlequins")
