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FULL-TIME: London Irish 29-14 Harlequins
By Matthew SadlerFebruary 28, 2010
Tries from Steffon Armitage and the returning Nick Kennedy ensured London Irish picked up their first win of 2010 with a convincing 29-14 victory over Harlequins.
Tom Homer was in good form with the boot, adding 19 points as Irish outclassed the visitors.
Homer opened the scoring after five minutes with a well-struck penalty as Exiles started much the brighter.
But Quins began to get more of a foothold in the game as the half wore on and they went in front 13 minutes later when referee Wayne Barnes awarded a penalty try for repeat offences. Nick Evans kicked the extras.
Homer reduced the deficit almost immediately with another penalty and then instigated the move that saw Irish regain the lead.
The full-back broke through three challenges before finding Chris Hala’Ufia who in turn offloaded to the excellent Steffon Armitage.
The England flanker had the power and pace to get to the line and Homer converted.
The try knocked the stuffing out of Quins and Homer added another two penalties before the break to give Irish a 19-7 half-time lead.
Homer added a penalty after the break before Irish sealed the win with a breakaway try.
Bob Casey broke through on halfway and offloaded to Kennedy who had the power to race away and touch down for the loudest cheer of the afternoon. Homer added the extras.
Quins kept on coming at Exiles and got a consolation try through George Lowe, which Evans converted.
It was a deserved win for Irish who dominated for large periods of the match and picked up their first victory in eight attempts.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer; 14. Topsy Ojo; 13. Elvis Seveali’i; 12. Seilala Mapusua; 11. Peter Hewat; 10. Chris Malone; 9. Ryan Lamb; 1. Dan Murphy; 2. David Paice; 3. Faan Rautenbach; 4. Nick Kennedy; 5. Bob Casey; 6. George Stowers; 7. Steffon Armitage; 8. Chris Hala’Ufia.
Replacements: 16. James Buckland; 17. Max Lahiff; 18. James Tideswell; 19. Kieran Roche; 20. Jamie Gibson; 21. John Rudd; 22. Jamie Lennard; 23. Mike Catt
Harlequins: 1 Ceri Jones, 2 Matt Cairns, 3 John Andress, 4 James Percival, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Will Skinner (Captain), 8 Tom Guest, 9 Karl Dickson, 10 Nick Evans, 11 Sam Smith, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 13 George Lowe, 14 David Strettle, 15 Mike Brown
Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga, 17 Aston Croall, 18 James Johnston, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Chris York, 21 Steve So’oialo, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Nils Mordt
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Attendance: 12,373
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