Wyke A 21 Cowling Harlequins 20

Battles between the two old rivals are always close fought and Saturday’s was no different as lowly Wyke turned the tables on Harlequins to win their Division Seven clash by a single point.

The Quins made a fast start and went ahead after five minutes when James Bowdin went over for a try after a 60-metre run from Chris Lam-bert. Brannan Lawn added the conversion.

Quins were looking to push on but silly handling errors and the concession of cheap penalties enabled Wyke to put points on the board.

The Quins roused themselves and hit back with Liam Kelly diving over for a try but Lawn was unable to add the extras.

Ross Pearson had a try disallowed before a flare up between players from both sides resulted in Kelly being yellow carded.

With Quins down to 12 men, Wyke bounced to make the score 10-10 at the break.

A second brawl saw Ben Pickles sent to the sin bin and Quins were feeling a sense of injustice that their opponents escaped punishment.

Dwaine Smith came on for Cowling and powered to the line for a try. Lawn tagged on the conversion.

Wyke responded with two tries to go ahead 20-16 with 15 minutes to go.

The game was set up for a thrilling finish and the battling Quins drew level when Pearson got over from dummy half.

Wyke continued to win a string of penalties in the closing minutes and this enabled them to establish the field position which provided them with the opportunity to score the match-winning drop goal.

Still the drama wasn’t over. Quins created an overlap which sent Kelly over in the corner, but the referee disallowed the try and blew for full time.

The Quins have to pick themselves up for Saturday’s away match at Odsal A.