Harlequins head coach John Kingston praised his side's batting qualities after a dramatic 13-11 triumph over Bath.
Coach hails fighting spirit following last-gasp win
Harlequins head coach John Kingston praised his side's batting qualities after Nick Easter's last-gasp try earned a 13-11 triumph over Bath.
Quins were trailing 11-6 deep into stoppage time, however No.8 Easter ploughed over and Nick Evans slotted the conversion to snatch the most dramatic of wins at Twickenham Stoop.
The try was not only the home side's first on their own patch this season, it also ended a four-game winless streak at the start of the Guinness Premiership season.
Speaking after the game, Kingston said: "I was obviously worried. The biggest emotion however is admiration for the great fighting spirit this group has.
Great feeling
"I wonder what their emotions were seeing the number of chances we created but failed to take, then we allowed them a soft try.
"Yet the players were far calmer than we were on the line and they displayed a wonderful never-say-die spirit. I'm very proud of them.
"I dashed down to see a screen, but I could not actually see if it had been touched down. But Nick confirmed he had scored it and it was a great feeling."
He continued: "Defensively we've been very good so far, but we had guys out of position when they scored a try that could have deflated us.
"We did not finish second last season for nothing. They made the right decisions under enormous pressure and, watching the game is much worse than being out there.
"We missed so many chances before pinching it, it's as if the boys are so anxious to nail games, they try to force things.
Execution
"Above all, we've put a line under the first five games because we've got ourselves a win. I'd give us three or four out of 10 for what we've achieved so far, but this sends us into the Heineken Cup next week with a terrific lift."
Bath boss Steve Meehan was left to rue his side's inability to close out victory after Shontayne Hape waltzed his way through the Quins defence with just four minutes remaining.
He said "I feel a big sense of frustration after another game coming down to the wire without us finishing it off.
"We've got to make better decisions. There were moments in the game where our accuracy and execution were not good enough in the heat of the moment.
"I admit they could have scored more tries towards the end, but then we also had chances we didn't take. It was so close to a hard-earned win, but once again we just didn't see it out."
