It looked as though the result would be based purely on penalties after the first forty minutes but Northampton ended the try drought midway through the second half and Harlequins responded with the match-winning score minutes from the final whistle.
The tension was clear in the opening exchanges as both teams started with scrappy handling. Harlequins seemed to have too many forwards in their back line which slowed their attacking play down significantly.
Penalty exchanges from both fly-halves made the score 9-6 to the Saints after the first quarter and as the game progressed; the attacking play also appeared to improve.
Late replacement Vasily Artemyev made the first significant break on the 25 minute mark after an offload from Pisi left the Russian with space to run. However, with no support around him Artemyev was penalised for holding on but Northampton looked a lot stronger as the half entered its closing stages.
Harlequins were rewarded with a one-man advantage as Roger Wilson’s discipline slipped in defence for Northampton. The hosts missed an opportunity during their attack as a huge space on the blindside went unnoticed by scrum-half Karl Dickson. But the forwards made up for this mishap with a huge drive that eventually led to a Nick Evans penalty goal.
Fifteen minutes into the first half and the game of penalty ping pong continued as the scores levelled once again at 15-15.
Ryan Lamb ignited a glimmer of hope for Northampton with an interception of Nick Evans’ pass. Oncoming James Downey gathered the offload from Lamb only to enter a melee of Quins defenders. Northampton earned a penalty which Ryan Lamb successfully slotted.
Minutes later, Northampton executed a superb attack which this time resulted in an all-important score. Foden played the ball out wide to Artemyev who sped down the wing and found Pisi inside. Downey gathered the resulting offload and passed onto Dickson for the try. Lamb failed the conversion but the visitors took a 23-15 lead.
But more was yet to come. Under a heap of forwards, and a fair few backs, Joe Marler emerged the hero with the ball firmly planted over the line for the crucial winning try sending Harlequins into the Aviva Premiership final.
Details:
Scores: 3-0 Evans pen, 3-3 Lamb pen, 3-6 Lamb pen, 6-6 Evans pen, 6-9 Lamb pen, 9-9 Evans pen, 9-12 Lamb pen, 12-12 Evans pen, 15-13 Evans pen, 15-15 Lamb pen, 15-18 Lamb pen, 15-23 Dickson pen, 18-23 Evans pen, 23-23 Marler try, 25-23 Evans con
Harlequins: Brown; Williams, Lowe, Turner-Hall, S Smith; Evans, Dickson; Marler, Gray, Johnston, Kohn, Robson; Fa'asavalu, Robshaw (capt), Easter.
Replacements: Buchanan, Lambert, Collier, Vallejos, Guest, Bolt, Clegg, Hopper.
Northampton: Foden; Artemyev, Pisi, Downey, Diggin; Lamb, Dickson (capt); Tonag'uiha, Long, Mujati; Sorensen, Day; Craig, Dowson, Wilson.
Replacements: McMillan, Waller, Doran-Jones, Nutley, Harrison, Roberts, Myler, May.
Yellow cards: R Wilson (32 mins)
Referee: A Small
12 May 2012
