Insects Swat London Irish
Two tries from the Irish contingent and a drop goal for the London Pests was enough to grab the result and headlines in this epic battle of the Not-Nots. The plastic insects just about deserved the win after being dominated by a young Irish team, which must feel gutted to have lost this match. Stand in skipper, Bob Casey, said after the match, that he was truly pissed off and was going to bed early in a strop having lead for large periods of the match.Spirited performances throughout the twenty-two lads of London Irish generated our own two tries haul, both from sub twenty years of age guys, and an immaculate debut from Rikki Flutey has now given hope to all the hopeless. Flutes was not meant to start, but for the grace of God, he did.
After Barry fecked his ankle in the warm up, the proddie boy from Maori country; Flutes, got the nod from Brian Smith to start at 10. Having arrived on Monday, the fella has had a short time to get to know the lads and play book, however, this did not prevent him from producing a man of the match performance against the current English champions.
His boot was called into play on six occasions, which resulted in dem touch judges raising dem flags in salute of yet more points on every attempt. His final haul of sixteen points set a new record for a Maori playing in the Irish shirt, so fair play to the man.
He was also a diamond geezer in his passing, showing that he had played at scrum half, with torpedo fast passes off both hands, hitting his man at will. My, this man can play a bit! I just hope that once he recovers from the jet-lag, he doesn't wake up and realise that he may have played for a more fancied club!
This was a day were a lot of the Irish youngsters showed us the future, and my, it is bright. Nick Kennedy started alongside Bob in the second row, and both went about their business of fecking the Pests lineout. Nick was a massive positive, catching everything thrown at him by Paicey, but also getting around the paddock and joining in most phases of forward play. Juan Manuel Leguizamon, or El Ninho, also showed what a strong, bordering psychotic fecker he is, busting balls everywhere!
Also in the forwards, Paicey himself had a real impact on the proceedings with accurate lineout throws and fearless scrummaging. He also attempted to take the head of England's new citizen and full back in waiting, Mark Van Gis-a-nation after the Kiwi had made a superb break from his own 22.
In the backs, Topsy came on for the injured Bish just before half time and showed the promise that is coming England's way. His opposite number, Sacks, must have been well miffed when he had to make tackle after tackle against this lad, and also miffed at the amount of ball he was getting.
The last season Sacks played for the exiles, the ball reached him once all season, and that was only down to a bad kick from Rob Hardwick at Quins in 2003! This probably explained his assault and battery on the young Ojo near the end of match. Frustration was etched on his face as he forearm-smashed the up-start in to the turf. Paul was even seen to clap his hands above his head repeatedly chanting 'Easy, Easy', as he waltzed past the ref!
Another youngster was taking his chance. Shane Geraghty had an eventful time for the 70 minutes he was on the field of play. Tackling the fat boys with no fear at all and passing ball for fun, the Tofty-esque blonde shite hairstyle was punching above his body weight. He got the first try of the day to put Irish 7-0 up using a much under-rated skill of fooling the oppo defence. He pretended to slip while having ball in hand, allowing the Pests rush defence to rush past, before picking himself up and slicing through under the posts for the try. Top skills all round.
For those still queuing for tickets when this try was scored, all I can say is, get your fecking admin sorted!
For those that thought you had booked, but membership cards/STs weren't validated, all I can say is, LI Customer Service, get your fecking admin sorted!
Back to Shane. He was also the only one to be binned, proving that being Irish in the wrong place and at the wrong time is a true term of phrase!
Irish went into the half time rest period with a 16-12 lead, as Gis-a-job won the battle of the penalties over Flutes, 4-3 on top of Shane's try. Not much of a lead for Irish, but a lead all the same. The exiles defence was the reason for the slender lead, as all attempts by the Pests to bully the game were smacked backwards by the determined home side.
The second half saw the visitors come out firing and determined to start the scoreboard rolling. A period of Pest control (!!!!) finally saw them get their try when former Munster man, Reddan, scampered in at the corner after strong phases from the forwards. What I saw of this try with my slightly rose-tinted glasses, it appeared that the wee man dropped the pill crossing the line, before being able to apply the downward pressure required by law for the points to stand. Just grapes that are slightly soured due to overexposure to the Autumn sun on an October Sunday afternoon? Well, I just don't know, as the eyes can play tricks while willing the oppo to feck up at every opportunity.
The next try for Wasps put them into the lead for the second time of the second half after flutes had landed another penalty. Sacks made a break down the left wing, only to be stopped in his tracks by both Delon and Topsy.
Unfortunately, the ball was recycled quickly and presented to O'Connor just outside the Irish 22. With a great turn of pace from the Ireland international, he was able to sprint in to score the try, unopposed.
Now, the London Irish of pre-Smith would have dropped their heads, some curling up into a foetal position and allowed the game to drift away. Not this bunch of heathens. Back they came, belief in their minds and a 'feck you attitude' on their faces.
After prolonged periods of dominance, only being punctuated by handling errors in contact, Irish made the breakthrough. A frickin fast (yes, that fast) cut out pass from Flutes found Delon out on the left touchline, under the noses of the green wigged fecking drum corp. A good turn of pace saw the young’un burst through into the oppo's half before putting in a beauty of a cross field kick towards the uprights. Voyce hit poor Delon a mere gnats foreskin of a second after his kick, but ah, this didn't stop Topsy from doing a Forrest Gump in pursuit of the ball. Leaving all in his wake, the Ojo-meister picked up and crashed over the line. Happy-fecking-days.
Doo-friggin-lally the crowd went, as was their want, and only a few minutes of play left. We were only going to beat the fecking Pests!
Well, no we weren't. I will complete this on an anti-climactic note. King came on, dropped a goal and Van For Hire popped over a pen to leave the lads four short.
Still, as Rowden blew the final whistle, having completed a good eighty minutes of quality reffing, less leaving his cards at home, the Fields belted out of the PA. The supporters dragged themselves from their seats and off to neutral territory to reflect on a pulsating game of rugby. Just over 6,800 souls had lent their support to the new Anglo-Welsh PowerGen Cup, and all were treated to a tense, and high scoring game of rugby.
The Irish youngsters had faced up to their opposition, a Pests team containing the majority of their first team, and had nearly pulled off a superb win. As it is, they pulled off a great result and now have their senior pros looking over their shoulders.
Scoring sequence:
7 - 0 (Shane try. Flutes Conversion)
10 - 0 (Flutes pen)
10 - 3 (Van Gisbergen pen)
13 - 3 (Flutes pen)
13 - 6 (Van Gisbergen pen)
16 - 6 (Flutes pen)
16 - 9 (Van Gisbergen pen)
16 - 12 (Van Gisbergen pen)
HT
16 - 17 (Reddan try)
19 - 17 (Flutes pen)
19 - 24 (O'Connor try. Van Gisbergen Conversion)
26 - 24 (Topsy try. Flutes Conversion)
26 - 27 (King Drop Goal)
26 - 30 (Van Gisbergen pen)
FT
Team: Michael Collins, David Paice, Rob Hardwick, Bob Casey, Nick Kennedy, Paul Gustard, Declan Danaher, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Paul Hodgson, Riki Flutey, Justin Bishop, Shane Geraghty, Rodd Penney, Scott Staniforth, Delon Armitage.
Subs: Adrian Flavin, Neal Hatley (on for Michael Collins 67), Ryan Strudwick (on for Bob Casey 40) , Phil Murphy (on for Juan Manuel Leguizamon 67) , James Storey, Topsy Ojo (on for Bish 42), Ben Willis
-- Master Scribe