Leicester Tigers 24-24 London Irish
James Walker-Roberts • Published 6 Nov 2011 14:30
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MATT Garvey marked his return to the London Irish squad with a last-gasp try that completed a dramatic comeback at Leicester Tigers.
Exiles looked dead and buried with 15 minutes remaining at Welford Road as they trailed Tigers by 17 points.
However, Adam Thompstone crossed to give Irish hope and Tom Homer added the extras and a penalty to reduce the deficit further.
Substitute Garvey, who returned to the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury, then scored Exiles' third try when he charged down a kick with just five minutes remaining on the clock.
Homer held his nerve to kick the conversion and, fortunately for Irish, Toby Flood was unable to do the same at the other end as he missed a last-minute drop goal attempt that would have won the match.
Earlier in the afternoon, Flood had kicked Tigers into the lead with a penalty before Shontayne Hape scored his first try for the club from a clever offload by debutant Jebb Sinclair.
Tigers regained the lead with a penalty try and then surged ahead with three penalties from Flood and a touchdown from Horacio Agulla.
However, just as Leicester did last season to beat Irish, Toby Booth's men fought back in the final few minutes to change the outcome of the match and leave Tigers still searching for their first home league win of the campaign.
Next up for Exiles is their Heineken Cup opener against Edinburgh at the Madejski next Saturday (1.30pm ko).
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 06 Nov 11
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