Belfast had a strong wind at their backs in what was to be a very scrappy first half, with the penalty count very high against Quins and little flowing play was seen by either side. The deadlock was finally broken after 25 minutes when the home side put together a number of phases of play before being awarded a penalty. Fly half Ian Humphries slotted the kick to put Belfast 3-0 in front.

After Tiatia and Karl Rudzki both came close to opening Quins account, the visitors put their first points on the board in first half injury time. Dunne kicked a penalty to touch ten metres from the Belfast line and from the resulting lineout and rolling maul, captain Andre Vos went over for the try. Dunne's first conversion of the evening gave Quins a 7-3 lead at the break.

Tiatia scored in similar fashion to Vos two minutes after the restart, which was immediately followed by So'oailo's first try of the night. The Samoan scrum half raced clear from 40 metres out and with Dunne converting both scores, Quins now led 21-3 with 44 minutes on the clock.

Winger Mike Brown was unlucky not to add to Quins tally before Tiatia crashed over for his second try after good work from James Hayter and Rudzki. Mel Deane then ran a great line to arc in under the posts from 15 metres and with Dunne adding the extras, Quins were 32 points in front (35-3). Minutes later and Tony Diprose scored from another rolling maul, which Dunne converted once again to make the score 42-3 with the final quarter still to play.

Some good and patient approach play from Quins led to their next try, the third of the night for Tiatia who crashed over from short range. So'oialo scored his second when he ran through a tiring defence from a quickly taken penalty. Two further successful conversions from Dunne pushed Quins total up to 56.

The final score of the evening came from a short lineout thrown to replacement Kai Horstmann. Dunne and Hayter took the ball up but the space was created by a lateral run from So'oialo, whose beautifully timed reverse pass to Tiatia resulted in the flanker powering his way over for his fourth try. Dunne finished proceedings by kicking his ninth conversion of the match.

Final score, 3-63.

By Duncan Franklin

Grafton Belfast Harlequins XV: 15. Keith Pyper, 14. Jonny Lowe, 13. Greg Mitchell, 12. Michael Swetman, 11. Colin Atkinson, 10. Ian Humphreys, 9. Andy Lowe, 8. Gary Brown, 7. Darren Barbour, 6 Neil Hanna, 5. Louis McGowan, 4. Johnny Poole, 3. Jarlath Carey, 2. Rory Best, 1. Connor Keown

Repalcements: Archie Kettyle, David Mayne, Jamie Kilbane, Ben Hanvey, Gavin McLoughlin, Stuart Lamb, Alex Smyth, David Dougherty

Scorers:
Penalty: Humphreys

NEC Harlequins XV: 15. Gavin Duffy, 14. Henry Barratt, 13. Jeremy Staunton, 12. Mel Deane, 11. Mike Brown, 10. Andy Dunne, 9. Steve So'oialo, 8. Tony Diprose, 7. Andre Vos, 6. Ace Tiatia, 5. Simon Miall, 4. Karl Rudzki, 3. Mark Lambert, 2. James Hayter, 1. Mike Worsley

Replacements: Tani Fuga, Ceri Jones, Kai Horstmann, Adrian Jarvis, Jon Dawson, Roy Winters, Simon Keogh, Andy Reay

Scorers:
Tries: Tiatia (4), So'oialo (2), Vos, Deane, Diprose
Conversions: Dunne (9)