Date: Sat 01 Dec 2012

London Irish went down 15-9 to London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium this afternoon after playing for 73 minutes with only 14 men.

Chris Hala’ufia was sent off after only 7 minutes of play for a perceived dangerous tackle by referee JP Doyle.

Gordon Ross kicked five from five to see the hosts home. Two Homer kicked two penalties for Irish and Humphreys added another for their nine points.

The Irish pack showed a lot of effort and endeavour throughout the match as they battled the Welsh pack and more than held their own.

Irish could put themselves in a position to win the game had they not missed a few kicks at goal.

London Irish welcome Gloucester to the Madejski Stadium next weekend for round 3 of the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Score sequence (London Irish first): 0-3, 0-6, 0-9, 3-9, 6-9, 6-12, 6-15, 9-15

Scorers: London Welsh: Penalties: Ross (5, 11, 16, 32, 57); London Irish: Penalties: Homer (18, 66); Humphreys (26)

London Welsh team

15. Tom Arscott; 14. Dan Caprice; 13. Sonny Parker; 12. Hudson Tonga’uiha (rep: Seb Jewell, 7); 11. Nick Scott; 10. Gordan Ross; 9. Tyson Keates; 1. Franck Montanella (rep: Tom Bristow, 64); 2. Neil Briggs (rep: Greg Bateman, 60); 3. Paulica Ion (rep: James Tideswell, 69); 4. Jonathan Mills (Captain); 5. Kirill Kulemin; 6. Daniel Browne (rep: Matt Corker, 56); 7. Ed Jackson; 8. Adam Balding

Replacements: 16. Greg Bateman; 17. Tom Bristow; 18. James Tideswell; 19. Matt Corker; 20. Alfie To’oala; 21. Jamie Stevenson; 22. Alex Davies; 23. Seb Jewell

London Irish team

15. Tom Homer; 14. Topsy Ojo; 13. Sailosi Tagicakibau; 12. Shane Geraghty; 11. Anthony Watson (rep: Steven Shingler, 66); 10. Ian Humphreys; 9. Darren Allinson (rep: Jack Moates, 66); 1. Max Lahiff (rep: Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 50); 2. Brian Blaney (rep: Gerard Ellis, 55); 3. Leo Halavatau (rep: Halani Aulika, 40); 4. George Skivington (rep: Kieran Low, 53); 5. Bryn Evans; 6. Declan Danaher (Captain) (rep: Jamie Gibson, 66); 7. Matt Garvey (rep: Jebb Sinclair, 68); 8. Chris Hala’ufia

Replacement: 16. Gerad Ellis; 17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa; 18. Halani Aulika; 19. Kieran Low; 20. Jebb Sinclair; 21. Jamie Gibson; 22. Steven Shingler; 23. Jack Moates

Referee: JP Doyle

Attendance: 3, 750