London

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SATURDAY 15th AUGUST 2009

ENGAGE SUPER LEAGUE.

HARLEQUINS RL 22 v 26 SALFORD CITY REDS

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Harlequins' play-off hopes took a massive dent after a late Luke Swain try gave struggling Salford a dramatic victory at the Stoop.

Quins looked set for a crucial win when second-half tries from Rob Purdham and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook put the home side 22-14 up with five minutes left.

But Salford turned the game on its head with tries from Steve Nash and then Swain in the closing moments.

Quins have now suffered eight defeats in their last nine games.

It is a huge turnaround in fortunes for a side that was sitting fourth in the Super League table back in June.

The opening quarter of the contest was pretty uneventful and it was not until 14 minutes that the deadlock was broken, John Wilshere pouncing after Jon Wells fumbled Stefan Ratchford's kick through.

Quins responded well and scored two tries in five minutes when Luke Dorn and Chad Randall both burrowed over.

The home side could not maintain their advantage, however, and Wilshere dived over in the corner for his second while Dean McGilvray raced the length of the field to score after intercepting Dorn's pass.

The game really opened up after the break and Quins carved out a handy cushion when Purdham ran a neat angle to stroll over on 45 minutes while McCarthy-Scarsbrook broke tackles on halfway to score near the sticks.

But Salford were not to be denied, their late scores ending a run of five straight league defeats.

Harlequins RL (10) 22

Tries

THE TALE OF THE TAPE...

78 Salford Goal by John Wilshere

78 Salford Try by Luke Swain

75 Salford Goal by John Wilshere

75 Salford Try by Steve Nash

72 Harlequins RL Goal by Robert Purdham

72 Harlequins RL Try by Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook

45 Harlequins RL Goal by Robert Purdham

45 Harlequins RL Try by Robert Purdham

38 Salford Goal by John Wilshere

38 Salford Try by Dean McGilvray

34 Salford Goal missed by Stefan Ratchford

34 Salford Try by John Wilshere

27 Harlequins RL Goal missed by Robert Purdham

27 Harlequins RL Try by Chad Randall

23 Harlequins RL Goal by Robert Purdham

23 Harlequins RL Try by Luke Dorn

14 Salford Goal missed by Stefan Ratchford

14 Salford Try by John Wilshere

Att

Ref: Mr T Alibert

TJ J Roberts
TJ D Griffiths
IG S Matthews
IG G Jones
RR P Stockman
MC D Asquith