Harlequins 19-23 Toulouse
French international Fritz scored the winning penalty as Toulouse came from behind to beat Harlequins
Saturday, 17, Oct 2009 07:52
By Matt Halam.
Harlequins look to be heading out of the Heineken Cup after losing their pool five game to Toulouse at The Twickenham Stoop.
The Quins completely outplayed Toulouse in the first-half with penalties from Nick Evans and a try from Ugo Monye giving them a 14-0 lead.
However the French side turned the game on its head with two early tries after the break, and despite Monye's try in response, penalties from Frederic Michalak and Florian Fritz sealed the win for Toulouse.
Harlequins started the game confidently and took the lead through Evans' penalty, before Mike Brown sent a drop goal wide of the posts.
The Quins captain Will Skinner was forced off with an ankle injury early on, however the French side offered little attacking threat in the opening 20 minutes and the Quins took further advantage when former All Black Evans sent over his second penalty after a number of Toulouse forwards failed to retreat to an onside position.
The Quins grew in confidence as Toulouse's Maxime Medard made a number of handling errors and were rewarded with the first try when Monye sped through the French sides defence. Evans failed to convert the try but scored another penalty soon after to make it 14-0 at half-time.
Toulouse rallied after the break and when Medard's long kick took a wicked bounce Yves Donguy was on hand to pick up the ball and touch the ball down under the posts before Jean-Baptiste Elissalde converted the try.
The Quins suddenly looked vulnerable and found themselves level when Shaun Sowerby powered over the line with Elissalde converting.
However they responded in perfect fashion with Brown sending a low kick through for Monye to score his second try of the game, although Evans failed to convert.
Poor discipline handed Toulouse the lead for the first time in the match though.
Elissade sent over the first penalty as Mark Lambert was penalised for holding before Frederic Michalak replaced Ellissade and scored a second with his first touch.
Michalak almost increased Toulouse's lead with a huge drop goal but saw the ball rattle off the bar and back into play.
Florian Fritz scored another penalty in the final minutes to win the match and condemn Harlequins to their second defeat in the Heineken Cup.