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Fourteen man Irish inches from unlikely victory

By Iron Lung
February 15 2009
A local derby on Valentine's day was always unlikely to be a love-in but little did any one xpect what was in store. Plenty of heart was shown from our boys but the card Paice received was certainly anything but an invitation to romance.

Predictions from fans before the game ranged from "we're going to get pasted" to "I think we can do this". Initial impressions from the team sheet certainly showed that our opponents were less impacted from international call ups than we were. Our second row in particular was an area for concern, especially with Roche on the injured list. A nervous looking Matthew Garvey took part in the warm up whilst at scrum half Warren Fury was on the bench instead of the named Peter Richards.

The game kicked off and we looked a bit nervy in the initial stages. Quins looked the more organised and were off-loading well in the tackle. The pressure had to tell and eventually Steffon was pinged for going in off his feet at a ruck in front of the posts, 25 meters out. Penalty Quins and an easy three points, or so we thought. Inexplicably Nick Evans pushes the kick wide and we're given a reprieve.

Finally Irish started to put some phases together, half breaks are made but not capitalised on until Thompstone makes it through a gap and hares off only to be brought down 25 meters out. From the ensuing ruck Quins are pinged and Irish have the first opportunity to put some points on the board. Hewat stepped up confidently and showed Evans how it's done and puts us three points up.

The game then lapsed into a forgetable phase of play, both teams appearing evenly matched and seem to be cancelling each other out. A strangely subdued crowd provided a near library like atmosphere suggesting that the quality of fare dished up wasn't up to the standards we have seen in recent months.

A quarter of an hour into the match Catt cleans up just outside his own 22 and spots some space behind the Quins back three and sends out a raking touch finder. The crowd expects a beauty, hoping to be deep into the Quins half but the magic Catt touch leaves him and the ball dribbles dead. Scrum Quins 20 something meters out in front of the posts. A test for our scrum, and one where we're found wanting, getting pinged for boring in. Evans has a chance to atone for his earlier miss from almost the same position and makes no mistake. The scores are tied at three each.

Then... the turning point in the game. A scrum outside our 22 breaks down and a few fists start flying. Your correspondant couldn't work out who started it but when the dust settled Paice was singled out and after a brief chat with the referee is shown the yellow card. The crowd showed its disapproval but so does Paice in what must have been fairly colourful language because all of a sudden the red card is flashed and Irish are down to fourteen men for the remaining 57 minutes of the game. If it was back chat then Paice was certainly a very naughty boy throwing Irish's whole game plan into tatters.

Back to the game and despite the boos ringing around the stadium Evans slots over the penalty and Quins go 6-3 up. Irish have it all to do.

The fight back begins, Hudson makes a galloping run but is tackled metres short. The ball goes dead and we have a scrum five metres out. Buckland replaces Johnson but can Irish make light of their man disadvantage in the scrum. Alf feeds the scrum, it turns, Thorpe picks up and touches down... unbelievable. Unfortunately the referee has pinged Quins for wheeling the scrum but doesn't play advantage... unbelievable. Instead of a try and an easy conversion Irish have to make do with a penalty which Hewat slots over and the scores are tied.

Quins try to make the most of the spare man but Irish are fired up, adrenaline and determination seeming to make up the fifteenth man. Evans finally changed tack and puts a kick in behind Irish deep into our 22. Topsy tries to tidy up but in the ensuing ruck on our line a stray boot swings out and catches Hewat on the knee and he goes down in agony. Still defending Irish hold out, awesome defence from our boys.

Hewat struggles on but has to be replaced by Bailey. Another blow to Toby's plans as surely the plan was for Hewat to replace Catt at 10 later in the game but now it looks like Catty will have to play the whole game.

The final ten minutes of the half was all Irish, great spirit from the team but the lack of a second jumper is really showing in the line out, Quins effectively marking Hudson with two pods. Half time arrives and the scores are tied at six apiece.

The second half starts in a similar vein to the end of the first half, all Irish and the pressure tells and we win a penalty in kicking range. Unexpectedly it's Alf who takes up the kicking duty and cooly slots over the penalty to give us the lead, 9-6.

Again, it's all us but Quins get the ball and kick deep leaving us struggling five meters from our line, the ball goes dead and we're defending a five metre scrum. We hold back the expected push and Quins throw the ball wide, a ruck forms and we turn over, awesome stuff. The ball goes back to Catt who unfortunately slices the kick giving Quins a line out five metres out. They gather and set up a maul, the maul starts moving quickly and Irish are unble to halt it or bring it down. It trundles over the line and a try, credited to Jones, is given. Evans misses the conversion and the game restarts with Quins leading 11-9.

Quins now have the upper hand, we struggle to get out of our half and they apply constant pressure. Brilliant defending from our boys keep Quins from scoring who seem to be trying a bit too hard which eases any pressure that might be about to tell.

Alex comes on for Tonga just before the 60 minute mark and immediately makes an impact. Quins have the put in at the scrum but our front row tears theirs apart and they are pinged. Hudson looks like he's about to explode such is his pride and determination, belief seems to be coursing through the Irish veins. A couple of minutes later and the Quins scrum comes under pressure and they're pinged again. Dean Richards responds by bringing on Bracken in their front row and slowly our dominance in the scrum recedes.

No matter, into the last ten minutes and we're determined to attack from all areas, unfortunately our exuberance leaves us in trouble in our own 22, we run out of options and are pinged for holding on in front of our posts. The penalty is a no-brainer and Quins take a five point lead into the last few minutes.

One minute left and we win a penalty just inside the Quins half. Catt whose kicking from hand has been a bit wayward finds his kicking boots at the right moment and drills a beauty into the corner. With seconds to go we have a lineout five metres out from the try line. Five points down this is our chance to pull off the unlikely, or as some people would say the impossible. Come on Irish.

The ball is won cleanly and goes wide. Thompstone gets his hands on the ball and makes a half break, Irish hearts are in their mouths, but he's pulled up agonisingly short. Irish try and recycle the ball quickly but in their haste knock on and the game is over. Final score 14-9 to Quins.

So that's it, minds start to turn to the England - Wales game but there's no doubting the talking point of this game. Paice's red card, for what ever reason, made our task nigh on impossible. Somehow, probably through sheer bloody mindedness Irish managed to keep a celebrated Quins side at bay for almost 60 minutes but the fact of the matter is that you just can't afford to be down to fourteen men and hope to win the game no matter how close we get.

So, we'll be without Paice for a few weeks no doubt, and Hewat's injury looked serious so I don't expect him back for a while. With Nick, Delon, Shane and Dodge with England our squad strength is going to be tested to the full over the next few weeks. One thing that isn't to be doubted though is the spirit shown by this squad of players, something reinforced when Delon went over against Wales pointing at Dodge who looked so happy you could have mistaken him for the scorer. The spirit is strong in this squad, we just need to channel it in the right way.

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Fourteen man Irish inches from unlikely victory

Posted by: The Craic www.londonirish.org (IP Logged)

Date: 15/02/2009 20:48

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