LIVE: London Irish v Gloucester
James Walker-Roberts • Published 4 Feb 2012 14:30
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London Irish 23-15 Gloucester
FULL TIME - Irish win 23-15 on a bitterly cold day at the Madejski but they finish second in LV= Cup Pool Two as Leicester also secured a home win over Newcastle Falcons.
Man of the match Tom Homer kicked 18 of Irish's points while Brian Blaney got their only try. Gloucester's youngster Ian Clark impressed on his first start with a brace of tries but it wasn't enough for the visitors to snatch victory.
75 mins - Homer kicks another long range penalty to put Irish two scores in front.
70 mins - Plenty of changes for both sides as play is disrupted, unfortunately even if Irish do win it looks to be in vain as Leicester are 24-6 ahead against Falcons.
63 mins - TRY! Second score of the day for 19-year-old Clark, who is making his first start for Gloucester. Again it comes down the left flank as the visitors stretch Irish from one side to another before finding enough space for Clark to score in the corner. The conversion is missed so Irish lead 20-15.
61 mins - Gloucester win a penalty and they go for touch deep in Irish territory.
57 mins - Toby Booth is up on his feet to applaud the referee as he awards them a penalty about 30 metres out and to the right. Homer kicks it and Irish are 10 points in front.
52 mins - Thompstone cuts across field from the right to left but the little chip intended for Tagicakibau goes into touch.
50 mins - Irish win a penalty 30 metres out, just left of the posts, and Homer kicks it successfully.
47 mins - TRY! Wave after wave of Irish attack is repelled by Gloucester, first as Tagicakibau breaks and then Thompstone, before the visitors turnover the ball and feed Ian Clark on the wing, who bursts down the flank and out paces full-back Homer to score under the posts. Tindall adds the extras and Gloucester are back in this.
46 mins - Excellent play from Irish to bundle Tom Voyce into touch after he got back to cover a Thompstone grubber.
44 mins - The Gloucester pressure eventually results in a penalty in front of the posts, 10 metres out, and Mike Tindall kicks it to get the visitors on the board.
42 mins - Penalty to Gloucester about 40 metres out and they opt to kick into the corner, first chance of the half coming up...
Teams are back out and Irish kick off, with Adrian Jarvis on for Dan Bowden.
HALF-TIME: After their strong start to the half, Irish have faded a little but they have not really been troubled by Gloucester and are still in charge of the game. Unfortunately for them, Leicester are also in charge against Newcastle, winning 19-6 at the break.
39 mins - Irish ended the half the stronger and the referee blows his whistle to signal the end.
33 mins - Tagicakibau has played well so far on his return but he makes a mistake on this occasion as he fumbles a high kick into touch. He is then on hand a minute later to touch down over his over line to prevent Dave Lewis scoring from his neat grubber.
31 mins - This time it's Gloucester who stand strong and repel the Irish attacks, and they eventually win a penalty which they kick to Exiles' 22.
28 mins - Good spell of possession from Gloucester but Irish holding firm in defence at the moment.
24 mins - Great work by the Irish lineout nearly results in a try as they intercept a Gloucester throw and Hape breaks through the middle before offloading to Spratt. Unfortunately he had no support and is eventually penalised for holding on to the ball.
19 mins - Excellent offloading and build-up play from Irish but they are penalised in the wake of a sliced kick from Spratt. Fortunately for the hosts, the kick doesn't reach touch and they win the ball back.
17 mins - A great kick from Homer helps Irish build on their great start here at the Madejski.
15 mins - Gloucester penalised for holding on to the ball in midfield and Homer goes for the posts, on the halfway line and just left of centre.
13 mins - And the scrum results in a penalty to Irish, which, almost inevitably, results in another three points from Homer. 11-0 to the hosts.
12 mins - Exiles on the front foot again as they win a scrum in Gloucester territory for a knock-on.
10 mins - Gloucester break for the first time down the left flank but Thompstone does well to tackle James Simpson-Daniel into touch.
7 mins - TRY! It all starts in midfield as Tagicakibau does well to claim Bowden's chip kick then Irish break to the right wing, then the left, where a pass is fizzed out to Brian Blaney to dive over in the corner. Homer's conversion from the touchline is just wide.
5 mins - Again Irish build well after the kick off but their play is disrupted when Gloucester intercept a pass. Fortunately for the hosts there was a knock on otherwise Peter Buxton looked to have a decent run to the line.
3 mins - The kick is good and Irish have an early lead.
2 mins - Good possession from Irish after the kick off takes them into the Gloucester half and they win a penalty 40 metres out, which Tom Homer will have a go at.
The referee is just getting his ear piece sorted out, meaning the players are all rubbing their hands for warmth as they wait. Looks like Sean Davey is finally ready for action, Gloucester kick off...
The two teams are out and ready to go, Gloucester in red and white stripes and London Irish in green tops with white shorts. And it will be the visitors who kick off.
Just five minutes to go until kick off here at the Madejski and plenty of cheers from the home fans when Tagicakibau's name was read out by the announcer.
Good afternoon and welcome to a chilly Madejski Stadium for London Irish's final LV= Cup group game against Gloucester.
The hosts need a victory to stand any of progressing and even then they need Leicester to fail to take maximum points from their home match with Newcastle Falcons.
Sailosi Tagicakibau makes a long awaited return to the Irish starting line-up on the right wing with Adam Thompstone starts on the opposite side.
Shontayne Hape and Jonathan Spratt form the centre partnership and Matt Garvey will start at blindside flanker after returning to the club from England Saxons duty.
There is no place in the squad for Delon Armitage, who was suspended from the Saxons squad in the week after he was arrested for alleged assault last weekend.
Kick off is 3pm.
Irish: Tom Homer; Adam Thompstone; Jonathan Spratt; Shontayne Hape; Sailosi Tagicakibau; Dan Bowden; Darren Allinson; Clarke Dermody (Captain); Brian Blaney; Paulica Ion; Nick Kennedy; Bryn Evans; Matt Garvey; David Sisi; Richard Thorpe
Replacements: David Paice; Max Lahiff; Mark George; Kieran Roche; Alex Gray; Guy Armitage; Adrian Jarvis; Ross Samson
Gloucester: Tom Voyce; Ian Clark, Tim Molenaar, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, James Simpson-Daniel; Mike Tindall, Dave Lewis; Dan Murphy, Darren Dawidiuk, Shaun Knight; Will James, Alex Brown; Peter Buxton (Captain), Andy Hazell, Matt Cox.
Replacements: Matias Cortese, Yann Thomas, Dario Chistolini, Tom Savage, Gareth Evans, Nick Runciman, Billy Burns, Akapusi Qera
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 04 Feb 12
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