Harlequins head coach Mark Mapletoft was thrilled to see his side beat Saracens at their own game after coming away 30-29 winners thanks to a last-minute Josh Ibuanokpe try.

James Lang still needed to hold his nerve to slot the clinching conversion to complete a stunning Harlequins comeback after they trailed 26-5.

Tries from Harry Sloan, Alofa Alofa and Elia Elia gave Harlequins the try bonus point in a game which was all about momentum, according to Mapletoft.

"What we said to them was about enjoying yourself, making sure you have that buzz in defence, and in attack, being on your toes, bouncing, looking to out-Saracens Saracens," he said.

"Sport is a funny game where if momentum is against you it seems like you've got a mountain to climb, then suddenly the momentum swings your way and you feel like you're on a downhill slope.

"I can't credit the players enough for sticking in there. They could easily have just thrown the towel in and said, 'Oh we never win here at any level'."

Jack Nay, Nathan Earle and Tom Whiteley all crossed for Saracens with Max Malins kicking 14 points, but Ibuanokpe burrowed over from close range in the final play.

And Saracens coach Adam Powell refused to be too hard on his players, insisting his young squad would learn plenty from their Anglo-Welsh Cup experience.

"It's a tough one to take. It's hard, it hurts, but there's going to be days like this in sport and you've got to get used to it," Powell said.

"We've got a game in five days' time so there's no time to sit around crying in the beer, you've got to get on with it, we've got to improve.

"I don't want to be too hard on them, a lot of the boys haven't played for a long time.

"It was a big game and for the majority of the game they did what I wanted them to do, it's just we lacked a bit of experience when Quins got momentum, and we struggled to get control."