Harlequins 30

Warrington Wolves 28

WOLVES should have been kicking themselves all the way home from London after losing against Harlequins at the sun-drenched Stoop on Saturday.

Paul Cullen's men had enough possession to have won the game twice over but were unable to make their domination count against a determined Quins defence.

And there were occasions when Wolves' defence appeared slow to react to danger and worryingly conceded some easy tries as a consequence - shades of Hull KR one week earlier in the Powergen Challenge Cup.

Time and again Wolves launched waves of attacks deep into Quins' territory but they lacked penetration, composure or the killer touch when it mattered.

Quins, missing overseas regulars Thomas Leuluai, Lee Hopkins, Danny Williams, Mark McLinden and Matt Gafa, soaked up the pressure thrown at them and broke away for tries that must have seemed like slaps in the face for Wolves' players, although a late fightback for the second week in a row - with three tries in eight minutes - left Tony Rea's side desperately hanging on.

Even the return of Lee Briers after hamstring trouble failed to clinch the two points but it was not for the want of trying on his behalf.

He opened Wolves' account in the second half with a trademark 80-metre interception effort, set up the impressive Logan Swann for his sixth try in five games and banged over four conversions.

And substitute Simon Grix will not forget his seven minutes on the field after scoring the final two tries, the latter a beauty as he finished off an eight-man handling move during the sounding of the final hooter.

Match facts

engage Super League

Round 16, June 12, 2006

Harlequins 30

Warrington Wolves 28

Quins: Henry Paul; Tyrone Smith, Rob Purdham, Zebastian Luisi, Nick Bradley-Qalilawa; Pat Weisner, Luke Dorn; Karl Temata, Chad Randall, David Mills, Michael Worrincy, Solomon Haumono, Joe Mbu. Subs used: Mark Tookey, Daniel Heckenberg, Filimone Lolohea, Neil Budworth.

Wolves: Brent Grose; Henry Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Toa Kohe-Love, Richie Barnett; Lee Briers, Chris Bridge; Chris Leikvoll, Jon Clarke, Paul Wood, Logan Swann, Mike Wainwright, Ben Westwood. Subs used: Mark Gleeson, Danny Lima, Mark Hilton, Simon Grix.

Referee: Ronnie Laughton

Scoring: Worrincy hits a hole between Martin Gleeson and Briers from a Dorn pass to cross, 10mins, Paul kicks the goal, 6-0; Paul's basketball pass puts Purdham in the clear and he skirts Grose to touch down from 35m out, 13mins, Paul converts, 12-0; Briers intercepts Paul's pass from a scrum and races 80m to score, 42mins, Briers is successful with his goal attempt, 12-6; Bradley-Qalilawa's break leads to Dorn feeding Weisner for an easy try, 58mins, Paul is on target, 18-6; Paul dummies and darts over from first receiver to notch his first try since returning from rugby union, 62mins, Paul tags on the extras, 24-6; Paul lands 30m penalty after Westwood is pulled up for interference at the play-the-ball, 65mins, 26-6; Briers' long pass allows Swann to fire home like a bullet, 68mins, Briers hits the mark with the conversion, 26-12; Haumono is half stopped by Kohe-Love but he still manages to scramble his way to the line, 71mins, 30-12; Wood keeps the ball alive and allows Kohe-Love to send Barnett over in the left corner, 75mins; 30-16; Grix evades three tacklers from a scrum and crosses, 78mins, Briers kicks the extras, 30-22; Grix finishes off an eight-man handling move, 83mins, Briers goals, 30-28.

Pens: Quins 2 Wolves 6

Scrums: Quins 7 Wolves 10

Attendance: 3,691

Warrington Guardian top men: Swann 3pts, Briers 2pts, Mark Gleeson 1pt.

Interesting note: Briers' final goal notched up his 1,500th point in Super League and he is now fourth in the club's all-time point-scoring chart.