They weren't singing
Match report from the Madejski
They weren't singing
By Paddy69
December 16 2002
London Irish keep their very slim hopes of progression alive with a resounding victory over last weeks bogey team, Newport. On a cold, damp day at Reading
They weren't singing
December 16 2002
London Irish keep their very slim hopes of progression alive with a resounding victory over last weeks bogey team, Newport. On a cold, damp day at Reading
“It makes it doubly frustrating when you see how we can play, that we lost last week. Having said that, if a team misses 7 clear cut try scoring opportunities at this level, they are not going to win”, said Conor O’ Shea after yesterday’s victory over Newport, “conditions were extremely bad out there, so it was good to see the ball handling errors kept to a minimum. We are happy with today, but are already looking forward to next week’s game in Newcastle. We are not giving up on the Heineken Cup until the maths say it is impossible to progress. We would have liked to keep a clean sheet, but the moment at the end spoiled that”.
When Barry Everitt took the ball from his right, feinted to pass left, saw the opening and took it like a seasoned try scorer, scoring under the posts in front of the South Stand, the die was cast. The only Valley that there would be singing in tonight would be the Thames Valley.
The score not only lifted Barry, but the team and the supporters. The apparently rejuvenated Hentie Martens was allowing Barry to operate in a lot more space, allowing time to kick to touch with pinpoint accuracy for the most part. Hentie varied the game plan sufficiently to keep the Newport defence hedgy and guessing. There were a few errors that with another run out will not be present. It must be extremely difficult to come into this level of performance from a standing start, not having had a game all season. Still, in my mind, he was up there as one of the star performers today. He picked Justin Bishop out with a perfect pass for Justin to head over in the corner for the second try and the game was as good as over as a contest in the 24th minute.
“Irish came out and played total attacking rugby, with or without the ball, they attacked. Mostly in numbers and at speed, our lads had no time or space in which to work. That said, they are relatively upbeat in the dressing room. They understand what has happened today, they are professionals and must pick themselves up for next week”, commented the Newport officials.
Right from the off, Chris Sheasby was adding to his legendary status, with great catching and his trademark runs to make some hard yards. I saw him in the Cowshed afterwards and he looked like he hadn’t even played. I was knackered just watching!
It was a full seven minutes into the game before Michael Horak touched the ball. When he did, we saw the first of many kick and chases accurately executed to create space for his backs. Paul Sackey was on form and chased and harried all over the place. He does seem to like playing with Bish. Speaking of Bish and Nick Burrows, when the backs decide to get it together, they can play. Admittedly, Newport were typical of the rest of the Welsh teams in the HC this weekend, they all took a pasting. That said, it's time for a cliche, you can only play what's n front of you to play.
We saw the Doc take the field unexpectedly and play one of his best games of the season. I didn’t see last week’s effort, but there was a certain amount of redressing to be done, by all accounts. The sight of a flying Venter spinning out of tackles and making a couple of looping runs to create space for the attack, was worth the entrance money on it’s own. Let alone his sniping in for a try in the second half.
The one question I really want answered, is what material is Ryan Strudwick made from exactly and do they make cars from it? We saw a lot more of him in the loose than in the lineout, making some very hard yards and taking some real bone crunching tackles. Ryan normally leads from the front, but against this Newport pack, he looked like a winger.
Newport had Raiwalui binned in the 14th minute for excessive use of the elbow on Horak well after Michael had laid it off. In an effort to even things up in the second half, Sgr. Lombardi sent Kieron Dawson the same way. This followed Newport’s only period of any kind of pressure. Irish defended fiercely almost on and sometimes over, our goal line, not always legally. I did fear a repeat of penalty-try-it is, but sending Kieron to the bin was to suffice.
The class try of the game was made by Barry who shoved a kick up for Michael Horak to chase, beat 2 players and score a well-deserved try. Once again Michael showed the value of taking him from his day job in the City, with a solid defensive display and causing all sorts of problems slipping tackles, etc. when on the move forward.
Laa Laa made his 100th appearance for the club in the 2nd half, whilst Beefy was looking to cause some damage on the prowl once he came on. The only criticism I would have was that the lineout didn’t function as well as it really should. This was not improved by the appearance of Kirkie in the second half. Newport brought on 4 replacements to start the second half, but it was to no avail. The hunting Irish pack were not going to be stopped by this lot.
This was a comprehensive demolition job of a not very good Newport side, which nonetheless, had beaten us last week. Newport, for those who weren’t there had the majority of the possession in the second half, but looked like our lads have done for much of the season. Lots of sideways movement, especially in the scrum and no real threat of scoring. JoeV’s prayers were answered in the 58th minute when the Doc headed for the bench and Tofty Apples came on. The Irish gameplan varied again as Tofty adds a different dimension combining his out-half and centre roles giving Hentie yet more options to hit.
Once Jimmy Cockle had scored and Barry had converted, the Eastiebeasties were giving the old “we want 50” an airing as the scoreboard showed 42-0 with 81 minutes gone.
Newport scored a consolation try deep in injury time from the most blatant piece of crossing ever seen at the Madstad, which totally out-foxed our defence. Newport’s misery was complete as the conversion attempt from 10M bounced skywards and out off the crossbar, poetic justice.
London Irish: Tries Everitt, Bishop, Venter, Horak, Cockle.
Penalties Everitt (3). Conversions Everitt (4). Newport: Try Jones-Hughes.
London Irish: Horak; Sackey, Burrows, Venter, Bishop; Everitt, Martens; Worsley, Drotske, Halford, Strudwick, Delaney, Gustard, Dawson, Sheasby. Substitutes: Edwards, Mapletoft, Cockle, Kirke, Danaher, Hatley, Hardwick.
Newport: Howarth; Mostyn, Jones-Hughes, Marinos, Luscombe; Strange, Burn; C Jones, Young, Anthony, Raiwalui, Voyle, J Powell, Gravell, Ojomoh. Substitutes: Snow, Richards, Gough, Veater, Williams, Pini, Navaro.
Referee: A Lombardi (Italy).
When Barry Everitt took the ball from his right, feinted to pass left, saw the opening and took it like a seasoned try scorer, scoring under the posts in front of the South Stand, the die was cast. The only Valley that there would be singing in tonight would be the Thames Valley.
The score not only lifted Barry, but the team and the supporters. The apparently rejuvenated Hentie Martens was allowing Barry to operate in a lot more space, allowing time to kick to touch with pinpoint accuracy for the most part. Hentie varied the game plan sufficiently to keep the Newport defence hedgy and guessing. There were a few errors that with another run out will not be present. It must be extremely difficult to come into this level of performance from a standing start, not having had a game all season. Still, in my mind, he was up there as one of the star performers today. He picked Justin Bishop out with a perfect pass for Justin to head over in the corner for the second try and the game was as good as over as a contest in the 24th minute.
“Irish came out and played total attacking rugby, with or without the ball, they attacked. Mostly in numbers and at speed, our lads had no time or space in which to work. That said, they are relatively upbeat in the dressing room. They understand what has happened today, they are professionals and must pick themselves up for next week”, commented the Newport officials.
Right from the off, Chris Sheasby was adding to his legendary status, with great catching and his trademark runs to make some hard yards. I saw him in the Cowshed afterwards and he looked like he hadn’t even played. I was knackered just watching!
It was a full seven minutes into the game before Michael Horak touched the ball. When he did, we saw the first of many kick and chases accurately executed to create space for his backs. Paul Sackey was on form and chased and harried all over the place. He does seem to like playing with Bish. Speaking of Bish and Nick Burrows, when the backs decide to get it together, they can play. Admittedly, Newport were typical of the rest of the Welsh teams in the HC this weekend, they all took a pasting. That said, it's time for a cliche, you can only play what's n front of you to play.
We saw the Doc take the field unexpectedly and play one of his best games of the season. I didn’t see last week’s effort, but there was a certain amount of redressing to be done, by all accounts. The sight of a flying Venter spinning out of tackles and making a couple of looping runs to create space for the attack, was worth the entrance money on it’s own. Let alone his sniping in for a try in the second half.
The one question I really want answered, is what material is Ryan Strudwick made from exactly and do they make cars from it? We saw a lot more of him in the loose than in the lineout, making some very hard yards and taking some real bone crunching tackles. Ryan normally leads from the front, but against this Newport pack, he looked like a winger.
Newport had Raiwalui binned in the 14th minute for excessive use of the elbow on Horak well after Michael had laid it off. In an effort to even things up in the second half, Sgr. Lombardi sent Kieron Dawson the same way. This followed Newport’s only period of any kind of pressure. Irish defended fiercely almost on and sometimes over, our goal line, not always legally. I did fear a repeat of penalty-try-it is, but sending Kieron to the bin was to suffice.
The class try of the game was made by Barry who shoved a kick up for Michael Horak to chase, beat 2 players and score a well-deserved try. Once again Michael showed the value of taking him from his day job in the City, with a solid defensive display and causing all sorts of problems slipping tackles, etc. when on the move forward.
Laa Laa made his 100th appearance for the club in the 2nd half, whilst Beefy was looking to cause some damage on the prowl once he came on. The only criticism I would have was that the lineout didn’t function as well as it really should. This was not improved by the appearance of Kirkie in the second half. Newport brought on 4 replacements to start the second half, but it was to no avail. The hunting Irish pack were not going to be stopped by this lot.
This was a comprehensive demolition job of a not very good Newport side, which nonetheless, had beaten us last week. Newport, for those who weren’t there had the majority of the possession in the second half, but looked like our lads have done for much of the season. Lots of sideways movement, especially in the scrum and no real threat of scoring. JoeV’s prayers were answered in the 58th minute when the Doc headed for the bench and Tofty Apples came on. The Irish gameplan varied again as Tofty adds a different dimension combining his out-half and centre roles giving Hentie yet more options to hit.
Once Jimmy Cockle had scored and Barry had converted, the Eastiebeasties were giving the old “we want 50” an airing as the scoreboard showed 42-0 with 81 minutes gone.
Newport scored a consolation try deep in injury time from the most blatant piece of crossing ever seen at the Madstad, which totally out-foxed our defence. Newport’s misery was complete as the conversion attempt from 10M bounced skywards and out off the crossbar, poetic justice.
London Irish: Tries Everitt, Bishop, Venter, Horak, Cockle.
Penalties Everitt (3). Conversions Everitt (4). Newport: Try Jones-Hughes.
London Irish: Horak; Sackey, Burrows, Venter, Bishop; Everitt, Martens; Worsley, Drotske, Halford, Strudwick, Delaney, Gustard, Dawson, Sheasby. Substitutes: Edwards, Mapletoft, Cockle, Kirke, Danaher, Hatley, Hardwick.
Newport: Howarth; Mostyn, Jones-Hughes, Marinos, Luscombe; Strange, Burn; C Jones, Young, Anthony, Raiwalui, Voyle, J Powell, Gravell, Ojomoh. Substitutes: Snow, Richards, Gough, Veater, Williams, Pini, Navaro.
Referee: A Lombardi (Italy).
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