A TIDAL wave of euphoria swept through Sunbury in the wake of the Exiles remarkable last minute victory over Harlequins on Saturday which revived hopes of avoiding automatic relegation from the Courage League Division One this season.

A try late in each half by Barry Walsh and Conor O'Shea allied to impressive long-range goalkicking by David Humphreys threw the Irish a welcome lifeline on an afternoon of passions, opportunism and no little skill.

This spirited Irish performance bore the special hallmark of their director of rugby Willie Anderson who prowled the touchline like a caged wolfhound eager to savage unwary Quins. This crucial result may well be the watershed in his stewardship.

It took an extraordinary comeback by the Irish who fell 13-0 behind in the opening 13 minutes to subdue Quins' combative pack and fashion the scores that had the home fans dancing on the pitch. Anderson's precise drilling of the Irish pack in technique and organisation reaped a rich dividend when push came to shove and ball retention was the name of the game.

"I was delighted with the players' stickability and discipline," said the coach afterwards.

No doubt Harlequins' French out-half Thierry Lacroix might have steered them through Irish fire and brimstone had a couple of long range penalties gone inside instead of outside the upright in the final quarter. Their inability to build on their early long-range try by Chapman who sprinted 60 metres down the left touchline ultimately cost them the game.

Walsh, a substitute for the injured Jeremy Davidson, scored a storming 37th minute try when the score was 6-16 and the Exiles began the second half just three points adrift.

A superb late break through the middle by David Humphreys who had a splendid game, enabled O'Shea to crash over between the posts and the out-half's conversion did the rest. It was a great day for the Irish - and there may be more to come this month.