Chiefs 26 Harlequins 25

Exeter Chiefs 26

Harlequins 25

Mark Stevens at Sandy Park

For those who don’t know, Sandy Park is one of the latest properties available on the new edition of Exeter Monopoly that was unveiled just a few weeks ago in the city.

Well, after this, maybe Rob Baxter and his Chiefs side have already used their ‘Get out of Jail’ card as they overcame fellow high flyers Harlequins in a hard-fought Aviva Premiership encounter at the Devon venue.

Fly-half Gareth Steenson led the way for the Devonians, scoring one of two tries in his own personal points haul of 21 points. Winger James Short collected the other touchdown, his third of the season, as the Chiefs maintained their lofty status after five rounds of competition.

Harlequins, to their credit, played their part in a decent match-up - even outscoring their hosts 4-2 on the try count - as an early penalty try was followed up by further scores for Nick Evans, Charlie Walker and Tim Visser.

Evans weighed in with the remaining points on a tough day for goal kickers, but it was his replacement Tim Swiel who was left to rue two late missed chances, including a late penalty that could have snatched it for the visitors.

After a mixed fortnight of action on their return to the European Champions Cup, a return to domestic duties saw Baxter’s side up against a Quins side, who like their hosts had enjoyed a favourable first month in the Premiership.

Heading into the contest, both sides had collected three wins from a possible four, but it was the Chiefs who found themselves a further rung up the ladder, having collected an additional two bonus points along the way.

With the wind howling around Sandy Park, it was the the home side who started the contest on the front foot, breaking the deadlock inside two minutes when Steenson slotted his opening penalty after the Londoners had strayed offside following the kick-off.

Home joy proved short-lived, however, as within five minutes the visitors - who had countered initially with a series of pick-and-go raids deep inside the Exeter 22 - were awarded a penalty try as their pack shunted the home eight back at a rate of knots for the converted score.

Again poor work from the visitors again at Steenson’s restart, the Chiefs used the resultant scrum to cut the deficit as referee Matt Carley penalised Harlequins for standing up, allowing Irishman Steenson to slot a simple kick.

But no sooner had the Chiefs responded, they were again undone by their rivals, this time Danny Care’s clever grubber kick in behind allowed Evans to latch onto the loose ball for their second try of the afternoon.

Slowly, though, Baxter’s charges were beginning to find their rhythm in attack. Messrs Lees, Armand, Ewers and Waldrom did the hard yards up front, whilst behind Ian Whitten was proving an ever-willing runner through the middle.

It was decent pressure from the hosts who, after a number of charges towards the whitewash, were eventually rewarded when Steenson slotted his third penalty on 25 minutes.

Instead of building on their momentum, however, the Chiefs again allowed their counterparts to rally, stinging the Westcountry outfit with a third try on the half-hour. This time more passive defending from Exeter allowed Harlequins to position themselves deep in the home 22, before the ball was shipped wide through Care and Mike Brown to Walker, who did enough to fend off James Short for a third try.

The tit-for-tat scoring showed no sign of abating as the game headed towards the break, Steenson on hand to slot yet another penalty for the Chiefs after Conor O’Shea’s men had been pulled up for holding on in front of their own posts.

Then, with the last action of the half, the Chiefs - having soaked up some pretty pedestrian attacking from the visitors - turned the ball over on the right-hand side, before working the ball across the field through the back division to Short, who did the rest with an impressive dart for the line.

Steenson banged over the conversion from wide on the left with the final kick to give the Chiefs a slender lead at the break.

HALF TIME EXETER CHIEFS 19 HARLEQUINS 17

Having lost skipper Jack Yeandle to a head knock early in the game, Baxter was forced into another change during the break as Armand was deemed another casualty of battle, thus meaning an earlier-than-expected introduction into the fray for England international Tom Johnson.

It was, though, the visitors who were first to strike during the second period, former All Black Evans adding to his points collection after Harlequins had won a scrum penalty deep inside the Exeter 22 following a fumble from experienced full-back Phil Dollman.

With conditions worsening by the minute, the Chiefs were finding it a struggle to get out of their own half, but having survived one counter burst from Walker, they were at last able to find some decent territory down field following a lengthy Steenson punt.

Positioned just inside the Harlequins half, some ferocious clear-out work from the Chiefs created hot ball for the home side to exploit. It was duly worked masterfully across the field to Whitten who, despite being halted short of the line, was able to set the launchpad once more.

The forwards picked and went with a succession of drives, before it was fed out to Steenson who squirmed his way over for the score, which he was also able to convert to extend Exeter’s lead to 26-20 on the hour.

Harlequins looked to respond almost immediately and they made good head way as Tim Visser’s strong bust almost set up Matt Hopper to score, but the former Cornish Pirates back fumbled the wet ball and the chance was lost.

In the build-up, though, the officials had spotted an illegal tackle from Exeter hooker Elvis Taione, who following a check with the TV match official, duly dispatched to the cooler for ten minutes by Carley.

With the man advantage, the visitors made it pay almost instantly as they worked the ball out to Brown, whose clever grubber in behind, cannoned back off the corner flag and into the clutches of Visser. Another check with the TMO confirmed the score which, thankfully for the Chiefs, went unconverted by replacement Swiel.

As the minutes ticked by, the Chiefs - who were forced to go to uncontested scrums in Taione’s absence - continued to press forward, but twice they were thwarted for holding on as they looked to lay siege in the Harlequins danger zone.

At the other end, Harlequins used two penalties of their own to position themselves back in the Exeter 22. Initially, the hosts did well to repel the threat, but when Johnson infringed, he was the second Chief to see yellow. Again, though, Swiel could not capitalise, firing his penalty wide of the mark.

The pressure was clearly getting to the ‘Men in White’ who then twice dropped crucial balls to allow the Chiefs to again propel themselves back up field.

Happy to kill the clock in the dying embers, the Chiefs did no more than ‘stick it up the jumper’ to ensure a vital victory that keeps them firmly in the top two of the Premiership heading to in-form Wasps next week.

Chiefs: P Dollman; J Nowell, H Slade, I Whitten, J Short; G Steenson, W Chudley (D Lewis 78); A Hepburn (B Moon 51), J Yeandle (capt, E Taione 15), M Low (A Brown 2-10, 51); M Lees, D Welch (G Parling 64); D Ewers, D Armand (T Johnson h/t), T Waldrom. Replacements (not used): S Hill, O Woodburn.

Tries - Short, Steenson; Conversions - Steenson (2); Penalties - Steenson (4)

Yellow Cards: Taione, Johnson

Harlequins: M Brown; C Walker, G Lowe, H Sloan (M Hopper 49), T Visser; N Evans (T Swiel 56), D Care (capt); J Marler (M Lambert 60), R Buchanan, K Sinckler (W Collier 49); J Horwill, S Twomey (C Matthews 52), C Robshaw, D Ward, N Easter. Replacements (not used): J Gray, K Treadwell, T Tebaldi.

Tries - Penalty, Evans, Walker, Visser; Conversion - Evans; Penalty - Evans

Referee: M Carley

Attendance: 11,471