Sharp blunts Bulls

Harlequins boosted their play-off chances as a Will Sharp hat-trick helped them to survive a brilliant Bradford comeback to win 36-24.

Sharp crossed the line twice in a superb first-half display that saw the home side open-up a 22-0 lead at the break, with Chris Melling and David Howell also going over for tries.

Bradford fought back strongly in the second half and tries from Simon Finnigan, Semi Tadulala, Ben Jeffries and Andy Lynch, along with four kicks from Iestyn Harris actually put the Bulls in front 24-22 with just 13 minutes left to play.

Quins managed to clear their heads though after being pummelled by the visiting Bulls, and three tries in the last seven minutes, from Rikki Sheriffe, Tony Clubb and a last-minute effort from Sharp gave them the win.

Opening

After some tough opening exchanges, Quins took the upper hand with two tries in three minutes with Melling running in followed by Henry Paul and Howell's combination to free winger Sharp.

With the momentum all with Quins, the hosts stretched their lead further with Howell firstly diving over for his try and then setting up Sharp for his second just before the break.

Leading 22-0 at half time the game looked safe already for Harlequins, but the Bull came out fighting after the restart and Harris gave Simon Finnigan a clear run to the line to finally get the visitors on the board.

Just three minutes later and Tadulala crossed the line after good work from David Solomona and all of a sudden they had their tails up and Harlequins looked nervous.

Harris kicked through for Jeffries to score and bring the Bulls within a score on 57 minutes, and 11 minutes later Lynch piled over from close range to level the scores -and when Harris kicked the extras they were remarkably ahead.

Somehow the home side mustered a response though, and with just seven minutes left Sheriffe, Clubb and Sharp all crossed the line to undo all of Bradford's hard work.