Leinster 20 Cardiff 17
Scrum-half Brian O'Meara rescued Leinster with the winning penalty against Cardiff at Lansdowne Road tonight. He kicked five penalties to maintain Leinster's lead in Pool Three of the Heineken Cup.
They did it the hard way, however, after throwing away a 17-3 lead and enduring over 40 scoreless minutes.
Leinster out-half Matt Leek, called up in the afternoon following the late withdrawal of Christian Warner, got his first Heineken Cup try in the third minute.
Cardiff hit back eight minutes later with their first assault into Leinster territory, a 20-metre drive before out-half Nick Robinson slotted over a penalty.
O'Meara notched his first penalty as Leinster began to attack the gain line in the 13th minute. And following an early jump by lock Andy Moore at a lineout on the Blues' 22, the Leinster scrum-half moved his cup tally past 60 points with another penalty.
Another Moore infringement and a loose hand by his second-row partner Quinnell saw O'Meara punish Cardiff further with two more penalties for a 14-point lead, and 10 minutes of inactivity for Quinnell in the sin bin.
But what followed could yet prove Leinster's undoing in the Heineken Cup this year as they crucially allowed Cardiff to hit back before half-time.
A poor display of defensive kicking from full-back Girvan Dempsey allowed theWelsh into Leinster territory for just the second time in the half.
Cardiff captain Martyn Williams tapped a quick five-metre penalty to put Brownrigg over for his try on 38 minutes.
Just as Leinster attempted to recover, a fourth turnover of possession in Cardiff territory saw them lose ground and watch helplessly as the returning Quinnell rode in on the back of front row John Yapp's pick-and-drive to ground for Cardiff's second try in injury time.
Nick Robinson's brace of conversions had given the Blues an unlikely share of the lead at the break, at 17-17 and they would have taken the lead had the out-half held possession under Keith Gleeson's shuddering tackle three minutes after the restart.
A third Cardiff breakaway was smothered out as centre Shanklin and full-back Rhys Williams knocked on with nine minutes remaining and the Leinster line in sight.
But O'Meara struck at the death to move the home side seven points clear of second-placed Biarritz.
Heineken Cup Results
Edinburgh Rugby 33 - 15 Neath-Swansea
Leinster Lions 20 - 17 Cardiff Blues
Agen 6 - 19 Northampton
Llanelli Scarlets 51 - 5 The Borders
Celtic Warriors 16 - 15 Perpignan