Irish find form to beat Quins

Sportsdesk • Published 1 Mar 2010 09:00 0 Comments

London Irish 29, Harlequins 14

LONDON Irish bounced back to form in fine fashion at the Madejski Staduim on Sunday by beating bitter rivals Quins 29-14, to record their first win of 2010.

Man of the match Steffon Armitage and Nick Kennedy, both surplus to ements for England, scored a try in each half while young full back Tom Homer once again impressed with the boot, kicking 19 points.

Quins also crossed twice, a first half penalty try and a consolation score by centre George Lowe at the death, but in truth the Exiles were always in control after weathering a period of sustained pressure from the visitors in the middle section of the first half.

Having gone seven games without a win in all competitions, Irish head coach Toby Booth was delighted to put an end to their disappointing run.

He said: "It's good to get the monkey off our back that everyone has kept reminding us about.

"Bar a period between about the fifth and 15th minute I think we were in control for the most part.

"Bolstered by the return of key individuals we put in a much improved performance.

"It is no secret that if you get key individuals back it is going to help.

"The players have earnt that. Not just for the performance against Quins, but on the training pitch over the last two or three weeks, where they have worked very hard."

Homer gave Irish an early 3-0 lead with a fifth minute penalty and then missed a long range effort before Quins started to dominate.

On 16 minutes the visitors showed their intent by turning down a penalty to kick for the corner. They then crossed the line twice, only to be held up on both occasions.

However from the resulting five-metre scrum referee Wayne Barnes awarded a penalty try and Nick Evans added the extras to give them a 7-3 lead.

Irish could have buckled at this stage, but they cut the deficit with Homer's second penalty before going on to dominate the remainder for the match.

Number eight Chris Hala'Ufia, back after a four week ban, carried on were he left off before the suspension with a line-breaking run. This set up Armitage for his second try in as many games.

Homer converted and then added two further penalties to give the hosts a commanding 19-7 lead at half time.

The England under-20 ace landed another penalty just after the break.

And then after 57 minutes skipper Bob Casey intercepted the ball on halfway and fed second row partner Kennedy, who showed a stunning turn of pace to run in the Exiles second try from 40 yards.

Homer's excellent conversion gave the Exiles a 22-point cushion and despite Lowe's late try they cruised to a comfortable win.

Booth added: "I've got no issue with the penalty try, I think we got that one wrong and it was the correct decision.

"But if anything that brought us into the game.

"We responded well and that galvanized us to life.

"When the going gets tough you need significant players to grab the game by the scruf of the neck, and that is what happened for us.

"When you have Bob Casey making a line break and Nick Kennedy outpacing a winger to run the ball home, you must be doing something right!"

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