Saracens 15-11 London Irish

James Walker-Roberts • Published 4 Dec 2011 16:15 0 Comments

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A LATE try from David Paice wasn't enough for London Irish to topple defending Premiership champions Saracens at Vicarage Road.

Exiles went into the match looking for back-to-back wins for just the second time this season and they took the lead with an early Tom Homer penalty.

Owen Farrell levelled the scores shortly afterwards with his first penalty of the afternoon but Saracens were reduced to 14 men when John Smit was shown a yellow card for breakdown infringement.

Homer blasted uncharacteristically wide from the resulting penalty and Exiles failed to make their numerical advantage count.

Indeed, Farrell kicked two more penalties to make it 9-3 to Saracens and the visitors were unable to add to their score before half-time, despite dominating much of the play.

Exiles' woes were compounded by losing Homer to illness but Dan Bowden kicked a penalty early in the second half to reduce the deficit.

Saracens restored their six-point lead with another penalty from Farrell and the 20-year-old then extended the advantage further with his fifth penalty of the day.

Irish did manage to secure a losing bonus point thanks to Paice's late try but they were unable to grab another score and snatch victory.

Up next for Toby Booth's men is a vital Heineken Cup match at Racing Metro next Saturday (3.40pm ko).

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 04 Dec 11

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