London Irish 13-16 Harlequins
London Irish 13-16 Harlequins
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 31, Jan 2010 04:59
By Martyn Thomas at the Madejski Stadium.
Harlequins withstood some late London Irish pressure to keep their hopes of an LV= Cup semi-final place alive.
The visitors had led 16-0 late in the first half but were made to work hard for their win as Exiles staged a spirited comeback, with Jonathan Joseph crossing twice in the second forty.
Former All-Black fly-half Nick Evans kicked 11 points and Sam Smith scored a breakaway try for Quins, who are now level on points with Wasps in Pool Three.
The home side will rue a poor day at the office for kicker Ryan Lamb, who missed three kicks from four at the Madejski Stadium. Irish remain behind the Scarlets and Gloucester in Pool Two.
Harlequins started the game knowing they needed a win to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive.
And they didn't have to wait long to go in front, with Evans slotting over a penalty after the visitors had reclaimed their own kick-off.
Quins weren't having it their own way though and the Exiles would have been on level terms had Lamb not hit the left-hand upright with his own penalty attempt.
Evans then nudged the visitors further in front with another three points.
However, as the first half warmed up at a freezing Madejski Stadium it was the home side that began to dominate possession.
They were unable to turn territory into points though as they laboured to break down the Quins defence. Sailosi Tagicakibau and Peter Hewat went closest for the home side who were made to pay the ultimate price by the visitors.
After another period of pressure from the Exiles, Lamb worked a magical break to put Kieran Roche in the clear. But as the flanker was caught and the ball was worked wide, the attack as picked off by Sam Smith.
The Quins winger was then left with the simple task of sprinting 70 yards to touch down under the posts.
Lamb then missed his second kick of the afternoon after Jordan Turner-Hall had been sin-binned for a late tackle on the one-time Saxon.
Ex-Gloucester man Lamb then swapped kicks with his opposite number Evans as his side turned round trailing 16-3.
Irish knew they had to score early in the second half if they were to have any chance in this game, and they did exactly that.
Hewat showed good hands to ship the ball out to Topsy Ojo on the right wing. The England man then turned on the gas, displaying neat feet to stay in touch, before slipping the pass inside for Joseph to score.
Lamb missed the conversion though to keep the home side eight points behind.
Like the first half, Irish were enjoying the lion's share of possession and territory but were again struggling to find the invention needed to pierce the Quins defence.
Fly-half Evans then missed the chance to put the game to bed for the visitors as he pulled his kick wide from just inside the Irish half.
And that's the way the scores stayed until the final minute when Joseph went over for his second try, with the youngster showing real strength and pace to power over in the right-hand corner.
Replacement Jamie Lennard missed the conversion for Irish who cannot now qualify for the knockout stages.
London Irish: Hewat; Ojo, Joseph, Catt (Capt), Tagicakibau; Lamb, Richards; Murphy, Buckland, Ion, Johnson, Perry, Roche, Thorpe, Stowers
Replacements: Coetzee, Tideswell, Lahiff, Garvey, Gibson, Rudd, Lalanne, Lennard
Try: Joseph (2)
Pen: Lamb
Harlequins: Brown (Capt); Lowe, Tiesi, Turner-Hall, Smith; Evans, Dickson; Jones, Cairns, Andress, Percival, Stevenson, York, McMillan, Guest
Replacements: Brooker, Croall, Johnston, Vallejos, Wallace, So'oialo, Clegg, Drauniniu
Try: Smith
Con: Evans
Pen: Evans (3)
Ref: Martin Fox (RFU)
In the other LV= Cup game of the day, Cardiff Blues defeated Newcastle 45-24 with Sam Norton-Knight scoring a brace for the hosts and Alex Walker claiming a hat-trick for the losing visitors.