Tom Homer kicked seven penalties to help London Irish along to a 21-17 victory over rivals London Wasps at the Madjeski Stadium on Saturday.
On a day when it took over 75 minutes for the first try to be scored, the goal kicking form of each side was always going to be important.
The first points of the afternoon were scored by Wasps, with Nicky Robinson knocking over his first penalty of the afternoon.
Homer responded in kind minutes later to tie the scores and the two sides traded further penalties, before Homer's third penalty of the afternoon made it 9-6 to London Irish, and that's how it remained until half-time.
The first ten minutes following the restart would bring not further points, but on 52 minutes Robinson drew Wasps level. But Wasps were unable to build momentum. Instead, Homer struck two further penalties, first on the hour mark and then four minutes later to put the Exiles 15-9 up with time ticking away.
Another fantastically taken penalty from distance then extended London Irish's advantage to nine and, though Wasps flyer Christian Wade was able to finally able to squeeze over in the corner to score the only try of the game, the missed conversion meant that the Exiles had a four point cushion with seconds left on the clock.
And there were to be no last-ditch heroics from the visitors, who perhaps deserved more for their efforts, with Adrian Jarvis triumphantly booting the ball dead to end the contest.
The scorers:
For London Irish:Pens: Homer 7
For Wasps:
Try: Wade
Pens: Robinson 4
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Ross Samson, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Matthew Garvey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 James Sandford, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Anthony Watson, 22 Adrian Jarvis, 23 Ross Samson.
Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Nic Berry, 8 John Hart (c), 7 Matt Everard 6 Richard Birkett, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Bob Baker, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Richard Haughton.
Referee: Sean Davey
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