Former European champions London Wasps stormed into the Heineken Cup semi-finals with a superb victory over Leinster at Adams Park on Saturday night.

Scrum-half Eoin Reddan scored a try in each half as Wasps powered to a convincing win in a match that was expected to go right down to the wire. It was 13-10 at halftime, but Wasps moved up several gears and ran away with the second stanza.

Leinster had their chances, but they were missing the attacking power of injured centre Brian O'Driscoll and couldn't turn possession into points - even when playing against 14 men. Wasps skipper Lawrence Dallaglio spent the first 10 minutes of the second half in the sin-bin, but not only did Leinster fail to score in his absence, they leaked two crucial tries.

Wasps fly-half Alex King shrugged off the blustery conditions to open the scoring with a well-struck penalty goal, but it was a sloppy start as both sides struggled to keep control of the ball.

Leinster found themselves up against a wall of yellow and black defenders, with only centre Gordon D'Arcy making any yards with ball in hand. Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman was penalised for punching, and King made no mistake as he doubled his team's score.

Opposite number Felipe Contepomi missed his first attempt at goal, and a third shot from King fell inches short, but just as the match looked like descending into a kick-fest, Leinster scrum-half Chris Whitaker crossed for a try. The former Wallaby threw a small dummy that England flanker Joe Worsley fell for, and there wasn't a hand laid on him as he scored near the posts to give Contepomi a simple conversion.

Just as the Irish province looked to be turning up the pressure, a loose ball at scrum-time was pounced on by Reddan, who ran 75 metres for a try that silenced the huge contigent of Leinster fans. King made no mistake with the extra two points, but was forced to leave the field a moment later when his head came off second-best after a clash with Girvan Dempsey's knee.

Things went from bad to worse for Wasps when veteran Dallaglio was yellow-carded for a professional foul - not his first of the game - and Contepomi's ensuing penalty narrowed the gap to 13-10 at halftime.

King returned from the blood-bin with nine stitches in his scalp at the start of the second spell, and he was immediately in the action, converting a try from replacement James Haskell as 14-man Wasps extended their lead to double figures.

Dallaglio was still on the sidelines when Wasps put one foot into the Cup semi-finals through promising full-back Daniel Cipriani. The England club's pack took the ball up the field through 13 phases and Cipriani was on hand to dot down in the corner.

Centre Dominic Waldouck was the next Wasps player in the bin, after tackling Contepomi before he received the ball, and a penalty goal from the Pumas star gave visiting fans hope of a comeback.

It lasted about a minute. At the next breakdown, Leinster lock Malcom O'Kelly was binned for a professional foul and King's deadly boot cancelled out Contepomi's goal.

England flanker Tom Rees stamped his mark on the game with two consecutive turnovers, and Haskell showed impressive pace to give Reddan an easy run in for his second - and match-clinching - try.