Quins and Saints claim first wins of 2010
Harlequins and St Helens picked up their first wins of the season
Sunday, 14, Feb 2010 04:02
By Tom Powell.
Harlequins grabbed their first win of the Super League season with a 16-4 win over the Catalans Dragons at the Twickenham Stoop.
Harlequins went into half-time with a narrow 8-4 lead after centre Will Sharp scored tries either side of Clint Greenshield's four-point reply for the Dragons.
Quins stretched their lead five minutes after the break as Sharp went over to complete his hat-trick and Danny Orr kicked the conversion to make it 14-4 and a penalty 14 minutes from the end seemingly put the game beyond the French side.
The Dragons pressed to get themselves back into the contest but couldn't break down a Quins defence that conceded 58 points against Warrington last weekend.
The win moves Quins off the foot of the table and ahead of the Dragons in the Super League standings.
Elsewhere, St Helens were comfortable winners over Bradford Bulls in the Super League as they won 38-6 at Grattan Stadium.
The win is their first of the season and lifts them into the top half of the table whilst the Bulls remain winless down near the bottom.
Saints were quickest out of the blocks and had an 8-0 lead after 15 minutes following a Jon Wilkin try and four points from the boot of Kyle Eastmond.
At the midway point of the half the lead was up to 14 points as Paul Wellens grabbed his side's second try and Eastmond converted.
The Bulls were struggling to get a foothold in the game and were 20-0 behind after 28 minutes after Wellens grabbed his second try of the afternoon.
Eight minutes after the break Eastmond had a try of his own which he converted to all but seal the win.
The win was definitely sealed in the 65th minute as Wellens completed his hat-trick and Eastmond kept up his 100% record with the boot by adding the extra two.
Not content with a hat-trick Wellens got his fourth of the afternoon and Eastmond inevitably kicked the conversion before Matt Orford grabbed a late consolation for the Bulls to make the final score 38-6.
At Belle Vue Wakefield Wildcats kept up their winning start to the season with an 28-18 win over champions Leeds Rhinos.
Sean Gleeson got the Wildcats off to a fast start with a try that was converted by Danny Brough to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.
That lead was up to 8-0 as Brough kicked another two points with 15 minutes of the half remaining.
Ben Jeffries' try five minutes before the break gave the hosts a 12-0 lead before Danny McGuire's try and Kevin Sinfield's conversion made it 12-6.
There was still time for one more score as Brough grabbed his third place kick to give Wakefield a 14-6 half-time lead.
Two minutes into the second half the lead was 20-6 as Brough scored himself and then added the conversion to give the champions a lot to do to salvage the match.
At the task was made all the more difficult with 55 minutes on the clock as Daryl Millard's try was converted to take the home side 20 points clear.
Four minutes later Scott Donald's try and Rob Burrow's conversion clawed six points back with a quarter of the match left.
Another Donald try and Sinfield conversion with 14 minutes left set up a tense finish but two more points from Brough wrapped up the win.
The win puts the Wildcats top of the table whilst the Rhinos remain well off the pace with two losses from their opening three games.