Harlequins rally late to pip Lions

TOP-FOUR aspirants the Hobart Hutchins Lions and the Hobart Harlequins played out a last-minute thriller at Rugby Park in the latest round of the Tasmanian Rugby Union competition.

The game kicked off in perfect conditions with a quality Lions game plan allowing them to have most of the possession and territory.

Quins were looking rattled but steadied to take a 12-8 lead into the halftime break, helped by a motivated defensive effort by Aaron Ladlow.

In a sign of maturity, the Lions continued their game plan and it reaped rewards after the break with two tries.

Only a handful of minutes stood between the Lions and a well-deserved victory.

Quins were having none of it, however, and best-onground Quins flyhalf Sidney Filea had a hand in two quick tries to give the Harlequins a 33-23 victory.

“That one was disappointing,” Lions president Jonathan Cook said. “We played right until the end but didn’t make enough of our opportunities in the first hour.”

Meanwhile, the AMC Vikings found themselves up against the seconds Taroona Penguins side.

It was only a question of which side would settle first.

At the end of 70 minutes neither side managed this feat, as end-to-end rugby was the order of the day.

The AMC backline had some dominance, but the sides could not be split elsewhere.

With 10 to go, Taroona scored twice, only for the Vikings to score two tries right back.

In the 80th minute it was left to best-on-ground Taroona forward James Holman to go over to seal the win, 50-45.

In the final game, reigning premiers the Devonport Bulls thumped a reserve Harlequins side 80-12.