Connacht 22 Harlequins 30

Ben Botica kicked 20 points as Harlequins defeated Connacht 30-22 for their second Heineken Cup victory of the season.

In an entertaining opening half, it was the visitors who led 24-19 at the break after a double from England international Danny Care with the rest of their points coming from the boot of Botica. The Irish province had taken a 19-9 advantage through Dave McSharry's converted try and four Dan Parks' penalties. Despite the second half being a slightly more disappointing affair, the visiting stand-off added two further three-pointers to Parks' one to seal the win. Connacht famously ousted Quins from the competition last season after defeating the English team 9-8 in extremely windy conditions. They hinted at a similar outcome in the early exchanges. Although Botica continued his fine kicking form from last week with a third minute penalty, McSharry touched down for the hosts. The respective fly-halves then traded penalties as the Irish province opened up a 10-6 advantage after 12 minutes. Botica reduced the arrears from the tee before three successive three-pointers by Parks extended the home side's advantage. It was at that moment when the visitors lifted the tempo and the Galway-based outfit struggled to cope. Care got the first of his tries after finding a gap in the opposition's defence following a scrum on the 22. He then sniped around the fringes once again to put Harlequins level. The visitors' stand-off converted to give them the lead before the same player added a late penalty as Quins opened up a five-point cushion at the interval. Parks and Botica traded penalties early in the second period as the score moved to 27-22 in the English team's favour. And Botica confirmed the win with a final three-pointer.