London Irish 13 Harlequins 6 - Irish leave it late but Ojo try maintains winning momentum

Paddy Lennon reports from Madejski Stadium.

With two minutes remaining this Guinness Premiership match looked like it was going to go the way of the home team – just! London Irish were leading by 6-3 but there was always the threat that Harlequins had the pace in their fast wingers to snatch a try.  Happily for the thousands of Exiles’ fans in Madejski Stadium the crucial try came from Topsy Ojo.

Seilala Mapusua capped another outstanding display when he wrong-footed a Harlequins defender by cutting inside down the right midfield.  He floated a long pass to Ojo on his right.  The 22-year-old winger allowed the ball to bounce before collecting it and hurtling past a final Quins’ defender to dive over in the right corner.  Eoghan Hickey, who had replaced Peter Hewat in the 47th minute, kicked a magnificent conversion from the touchline to ensure his team took maximum benefit from the enterprise of his fellow backs.

Irish had always looked the more likely to score throughout the previous 78 minutes, they dominated possession and when playing with pace threatened to make their local rivals pay.  However, a well organised and committed Harlequins defence ensured that their try line wasn’t crossed until Ojo finally made the breach.

Despite the low scoring, only one penalty goal was kicked in the first half, the game never lacked interest or excitement for the 10,000 plus crowd who braved a bitterly cold April afternoon to support their teams.  That opening score fell to the boot of the visitors’ fly half, Adrian Jarvis who struck the ball well from 40 metres in the 35th minute.

It took London Irish until the 66th minute to level the score through an Eoghan Hickey penalty goal.  The Irishman added a second five minutes later when the visitors were penalised for an off the ball tackle on Peter Richards.

Jarvis had the chance to level the score in the 73rd minute but his penalty goal attempt from 45 metres on the left drifted wide.  That prompted a final series of attacks by Irish that resulted in the Ojo score.

In the final minute Jarvis kicked his second penalty goal and secured a losing bonus point when Bob Casey was sin-binned for obstructing Danny Care, the Harlequins scrum half.

The win means that Irish’s hopes of a top six finish remain mathematically alive, more importantly, the victory ensures the team goes into next Saturday’s Heineken semi-final with the encouragement of a win unlike their opponents Toulouse who lost 11-23 to Clermont Auvergne.  Another bonus for Irish was seeing a number of key players coming through 80 minutes of demanding rugby unscathed, in the process making a case for selection next weekend.

Full match report follows.

Match Statistics

	13-6
T C P DG Player         D. Murphy         Paice         Rautenbach         Hudson         Casey         Danaher         S. Armitage         Thorpe         Hodgson         Geraghty         Tagicakibau         Mapusua         Richards 1       Ojo         Hewat         Lea'aetoa         Coetzee         Johnson         P. Murphy         Leguizamon         Mordt   1 2   Hickey	Position 1. L/Prop 2. Hooker 3. T/Prop 4. Lock 5. Lock 6. B/Flanker 7. O/Flanker 8. No 8 9. Scrum-half 10. Fly-half 11. Wing 12. Centre 13. Centre 14. Wing 15. Fullback 16. Sub 17. Sub 18. Sub 19. Sub 20. Sub 21. Sub 22. Sub	Player T C P DG Jones         Botha         Ross         Kohn         Robson         Robshaw         Skinner         Easter         Care         Jarvis     2   Williams         Masson         Monye         Strettle         Brown         Fuga         Brooks         Evans         Guest         So'oialo         Malone         Barry