Round 22
Harlequins 20 l. Leeds Rhinos 54

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Webb inspires Leeds second half comeback
Mon August 6, 2007
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Leeds closed the gap on leaders St Helens as Brent Webb led a superb second-half fightback against Harlequins.

The Rhinos trailed 16-6 at the break but the game turned on its head after the interval as the visitors rained down eight tries in 40 minutes.

Webb was at the heart of the comeback, scoring twice and having a hand in several others to make amends for his first-half yellow card.

The game started in scrappy fashion with Webb twice being penalised for high tackles inside the first eight minutes.

And two minutes later the home side made the breakthrough when pressure on the Rhinos' tryline saw Paul Sykes dive over in the corner - but the centre missed his own conversion.

Leeds lost scrum-half Rob Burrow to injury and his replacement Jamie Thackray made an instant impact as he jinked through three tackles to take the scores level with Kevin Sinfield kicking the conversion.

Referee Phil Bentham finally lost patience with Webb and sent the New Zealand international to the stands after another high tackle on Scott Hill.

And Quins took full advantage of their numerical superiority by scoring two tries in the space of seven minutes.

First Scott Hill spun out of Clinton Toopi's tackle to dive over and then Danny Orr fed Mark McLinden for a well-executed try.

Sykes kicked both conversions to give Quins a deserved 10-point lead.

But Leeds came out all guns blazing after the break as Thackray released Webb to score under the posts.

Three minutes later Jordan Tansey's collected his own grubber kick to give Leeds the lead.

The Quins defence, so resilient in the first half, collapsed as Kevin Sinfield steamrollered through several challenges to score in the left hand corner.

Gareth Ellis scored Leeds' fourth try of the half on the hour and Scott Donald ran the length of the pitch after pouncing on a loose pass.

Jamie Peacock got in on the act and although Orr pulled a try back for Quins, there was still time for Keith Senior to set up both Danny McGuire and Webb for further tries.

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

Article: Webb goes from villian to hero

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