Now we had already been warned by Timmeh that the new “mascot”, the Carnegie Challenger left a lot to be desired (actually I believe the description was a tad more fruity than that), but nothing could have prepared me for the reality.  Joking aside, I was very disturbed to watch the mascot appearing to encourage violence in the younger members of the crowd by actively inviting them to punch him and to also hit him with those blow up sticky things.

However on to the game.  This was one that both side desperately need to win and quite frankly it showed in the play, which was at times a little scrappy.  Nonetheless Irish got off to a reasonable start and opened the scoring at 6 mins with a successful penalty kick by Peter Hewat.  Two minutes later Dodge collides with Tom Biggs on the wing and crumples into a heap clutching his knee – not scripted for on his 100^th appearance for Irish, and having just received a well deserved call up by Brian Ashton.  After prolonged treatment he gamely hobbled on but was clearly in some considerable pain.  9 minutes into the game Leeds equalise with a penalty.  A bit of theatrics by Thomas DeVedia see Irish awarded a penalty on Leeds 5 m line – we opt for a scrum, which we win but from the ruck the ref blows long and hard on his whistle and after telling off a Leeds player he awards Irish another scrum.  We contrive to lose this and Leeds clear to their 22.

16 minutes in we are awarded a penalty, which we take quickly, and after a series of nice passes and offloads, and what looked like a knock on by the 4000ish Leeds Supporters, Delon scores in the far corner.  The kick is unsuccessful and the score now reads Leeds 3 Irish 8.

In the 21^st minute a brilliant jinking run by Richard Thorpe precedes a wonderful deft pass to Nick Kennedy who passes to Thomas DeVidia for him to score just right of the posts.  The kick is missed and the score now reads Leeds 3 Irish 13.

In the 24^th minute Leeds, are awarded a penalty right in front of our posts for not binding in the scrum.  This is unsurprisingly converted to make the score Leeds 6 Irish 13.

In the 33^rd minute there was a messy Irish line out which we just managed to secure and Richard Thorpe went on one of his runs.  From the ruck a very obvious hand scooped the ball to the Leeds side: Irish were given a penalty in front of the posts and the offending Leeds player given 10 minutes rest.  The successful kick made the half time score Leeds 6 Irish 16.

The second half saw Irish without Dodge who hobbled out with a huge ice pack to his knee.

3 minutes in a blatantly obvious shirt pull on Delon stopped him from kicking the ball on and chasing.  This was practically in front of the referee who chose not to see it and waved play on, in that guilty way they have. Irish ultimately knocked on – scrum to Leeds.  From the scrum Leeds flung the ball wide for the number 15 to score in the far corner.  The kick was missed and the score now Leeds 11 London Irish 16.

In the 8th minute a great passage of play by Irish deep into Leeds territory sees Bob pass to ………..No one.  We recover the ball and eventually win a line out on the Leeds 5m line.  The maul is brought down by Leeds – penalty Irish.  We opt for a scrum and an infringement by Leeds at the scum gives us a free kick.  Good work by Richard Thorpe sees Irish make the try line but we are held up – 5m scrum Irish.   Free kick given to Irish, which is taken quickly, and Sailosi strolls over to score.  A missed conversion makes the score Leeds 11 Irish 21.

Irish Substitution – David (I know the words of the English National Anthem) Paice on for Danie Coetzee.

Play in front if the Irish posts sees a penalty awarded to Leeds with Warren given ”a rest” in the sin bin.  At this point Bob is flat out on his back with the Medics rushing to treat him.  A very wobbly Bob is then helped off and James Hudson replaces him.

Penalty is successful – Leeds 14 Irish 21.

In the 33^rd minute Leeds score again in the far corner and a successful kick makes the score a nail biting Leeds 21 Irish 21.

Almost straight from the kick off,  a good passage of Irish play and pressure sees the ball passed to David Paice, who sprints towards the try line, dummies the defender, and scores with 3 Leeds players hanging on to him.  Try is unconverted – Leeds 21 Irish 26.

A final flurry in the Irish half and Leeds get a penalty which is kicked to make the final score Leeds 24 Irish 26.

It is a shame to see Leeds propping up the bottom of the league.  If they play the rest of the season with the same heart they played against us I am sure they will start to win games.

As far as Irish are concerned, there were some good performances, most notably from Richard Thorpe who I thought was the best player on the park.  It is however slightly worrying that we seem to lose our way in the second half and we need to be more ruthless.

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