NEC Harlequins' preparations for the Parker Pen Challenge Cup Final are going to plan after they received a morale-boosting win over Zurich Premiership Leaders Bath Rugby.
A last-minute try scrum-half Simon Keogh handed his side a dramatic 25-22 victory over the west country side who were knocked out of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup in the semi-final stage last weekend.
Quins, who squeezed past Connacht 49-45 in their double-legged semi final, will face Montferrand in the Cup final with a 53-51 aggregate over Bath at the Madejski Stadium on May 22 (kick-off 12:00)
Quins' victory at The Stoop means that the competition will now go into the final round with both Bath and London Wasps still in with a chance of winning both the league and a bye to the Zurich Premiership Final on May 29.
Bath went into the break with a 22-9 lead and may have partaken in a little premature champagne with their oranges, as they had no answer to the home side's remarkable second-half comeback.
But fans will be wondering where it all went wrong. Their side looked on course to wrap up the league from the very first minute of the match when referee Dave Pearson awarded a penalty try, when Quins wing Matt Moore deliberately knocked-on from an offside position when the visitors had a two-man overlap.
Fly-half Chris Malone slotted the simple conversion, but Paul Burke kicked two penalties to keep Quins in touch.
Bath hit back via a brilliantly taken try from their Springbok center Robbie Fleck that was converted by Malone, but Burke again reeled them back with another penalty.
Again, Bath responded to the kick with a try - this time through former England fullback Matt Perry, who forced his way over to secure what looked like an insurmountable half-time lead. Quins looked in a sombre mood early in the second period, but another six points from the boot of Burke gave them reason to dream.
Despite the narrowing gap and Bath's inability to add to their points tally, the champions-elect looked comfortable, and three successive missed penalties from Burke seemed to indicate that the game's result was preordained.
But Bath's luck run out when flanker Andy Beattie was sin-binned with six minutes of normal time remaining. Quins seized on the one-man advantage and pushed up the field.
Andy Dunne, who had appeared off the bench, took over the goal-kicking duties from Burke and narrowed the deficit with a penalty, and while Bath defended for their lives during injury-time, they ultimately ran out of numbers, and Keogh touched down amid dramatic scenes.
The dramatic converted try keeps Quins on course for Heineken Cup qualification via the league route, and left Bath wondering how on earth they could have lost a game they had in the bag at half-time.
