Premiership: Harlequins 14-12 Exeter Chiefs - Marcus Smith's late conversion seals win

Marcus Smith again showed his class as he set up the equalising try before kicking the winning conversion under immense pressure

Marcus Smith's last-minute conversion saw Harlequins edge past 14-man Exeter in the Premiership.

Luke Northmore's try saw Quins take control early on but Henry Slade's 34th-minute score levelled the match.

Exeter then had Alec Hepburn sent off for a dangerous tackle in first-half added time and Quins missed a host of chances with the extra man.

Jack Innard's effort put Exeter ahead but Andre Esterhuizen's late try set up Smith to kick the winning conversion.

Quins stay third in the Premiership while Exeter drop down to sixth place after the defeat in the clubs' first meeting since the hosts' exhilarating 40-38 win over the Chiefs in last season's final at Twickenham.

Harlequins were ahead inside four minutes after a penalty got them good field position and Northmore's quick thinking four phases after a lineout saw him tap the ball forward right-footed and dive in after Stuart Hogg had done well to strip Joe Marchant.

The hosts suffocated their opponents as they dominated the ball and territory in the early part of the game and almost got a second try as Smith's 20th-minute kick over the top just failed to find Marchant in the right corner.

It took Exeter almost half an hour to get any sort of meaningful possession in a dangerous area, but when they did they made it count as Slade capped off a 20-phase move after a lovely pass off the ground from Joe Simmonds to set him up.

Exeter had control in the final part of the first period, but the game was turned on its head in stoppage time as Hepburn was sent off when he recklessly lifted Joe Marler and dumped him on his head as Sam Simmonds assisted in the clear out.

Joe Marler watches Alec Hepburn head to the stands after his dangerous tackle on the England prop

Harlequins spurned a host of chances to go ahead - Tyrone Green missed a simple pass to put Caden Murley in when held up five metres out while Exeter stopped Smith, Esterhuizen and Alex Dombrandt from close range before another wayward pass by Green evaded Marchant when the winger was in acres of space to walk into the left corner.

They were left to rue those misses as Innard was forced over after a close-range lineout following a long period of Exeter pressure in the left corner with 14 minutes left, but Joe Simmonds' conversion drifted just wide of the far post.

It seemed like it would not be Quins' day when replacement Louis Lynagh - whose two late tries secured their title win at Twickenham in June - knocked on a Smith cross-field kick when in space on the right wing.

But another Smith kick, this time to the left, found the impressive Esterhuizen, who went over in the corner.

Smith needed to make a difficult conversion from the touchline to seal the win, and the England man made no mistake as his right-footed effort went over off the post.

Esterhuizen then produced a superb bit of defence at the breakdown as Exeter tried to get into a position for a drop-goal in added time.

Harlequins senior coach Tabai Matson told BBC Sport:

"That's a pretty important victory. As a coach you debrief the performance and it was tough, but I have to tip my hat to Exeter.

"We said at half time they weren't going away and they did not, they hung in there and probably deserved a bit better than getting defeated in the last minute.

"That's a pretty important win against them, we'll keep marching forward.

"We probably missed four genuine opportunities to score a try so that'll be what we focus on on Monday."

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BT Sport:

"Sometimes you lose games and you almost feel like you've kind of won them in a lot of ways, and it feels a little bit like that today.

"I thought we controlled and managed the second half really well, but it's like anything, one or two moments got us in the end.

"But on the whole I can't fault the guys' endeavour; they really collected themselves well at half time, stuck to a very basic game plan that kept us going up the field.

"We handed a lot of responsibility over to our forwards and our backs chased kicks like their lives depended on it.

"If anything I want them to remember what they've achieved individually today, because I think some of our guys in difficult circumstances have probably had their best performances of the season as individuals and that's a good foundation for us to move forward from."

Harlequins: Green; Marchant, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Marler, Walker, Collier, Symons, Tizard, Lawday, Kenningham, Dombrandt (capt).

Replacements: Musk, Garcia Botta, Kerrod, Lamb, J Chisholm, Steele, Jones, Lynagh.

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, Cordero; J Simmonds, Maunder; Hepburn, Yeandle (capt), Iosefa-Scott, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Kirsten, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Innard, Moon, Schickerling, S Skinner, Armand, Maunder, H Skinner, Hendrickson.

Referee: Ian Tempest (RFU).

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