London Irish cruised into the fifth round of the Tetley's Bitter Cup without
needing to move into top gear against Exeter.
The game, played on a sticky pitch, underlined the large gap between
Premiership football and the average National League One side.
Exeter, midway in the League One table and one of the stronger sides in the
league, were frequently engulfed by a tidal wave of green shirts as the Irish
laid siege to their line.
By halftime the visitors were leading by 32-0 having stamped their authority
on the game in the opening 10 minutes, fly-half Barry Everitt kicking a penalty
goal and their giant lock Ryan Strudwick going over for a try after a break down
the left wing by centre Matt Oliver.
For the first 18 minutes Exeter were starved of possession, the Irish powering
ahead with tries by scrum-half Kieran Campbell and lock forward Glen Delaney,
both converted by Everitt.
It was just under 20 minutes before Exeter were able to get their hands on the
ball and due to some heroic efforts by the forwards were able to take play into
Irish territory.
They then had a good quarter of an hour spell but were unable to pierce the
London Irish defence making elementary mistakes to enable the visitors to break
clear of the stranglehold and build up their score with unconverted tries by
flanker Eddie Halvey and winger Nnambi Ezolike.
Everitt kicked another penalty and flanker Colin Allen went over for a try and
then the Irish demonstrated their superior speed and passing skills when Oliver
went through for a try in the corner with replacement fly half Jarrod Cunningham
converting.
With Irish in command, Exeter were now simply playing for pride and their
forwards raised a big cheer when after five minutes of pressure on the Irish
line they put winger Martin Ridley in for a try which Howard converted and just
on time centre Brian Meinung went over for a second try.
Irish increased their lead with a late try by skipper Connor O'Shea.
Exeter director of rugby Ian Bremner, a former member of the London Irish
coaching staff, said: "We stuck at it and certainly didn't throw in the towel
finishing the match with a couple of good tries.
"We had some good spells during the match but got stung by some rather pacy
Irish counter-attacks.
"It's important that there should be competitions such as this where Exeter
can meet teams from a higher level. Sides such as Exeter must have something to
aspire to and this Cup competition is one of the ways of achieving this."
London Irish boss Dick Best said it had been a professional performance by his
team.
He said: "We played most of the game in the Exeter half and I was pleased
that we started well and kept going. In fact almost everything went according to
plan."
Teams:
Exeter: Hill, Webber, Meinung, McMurrey,
Ridley, Howard, John,
Mooney, Brooking, Sluman, R. Baxter, Harris, Willis, Foote,
R. Baxter.
Not Used: Parkes, Clarke, Perry, Hansen, Thomas, Townsend,
Woodman.
Tries: Meinung, Ridley.
Cons: Howard.
London Irish: O'Shea, Ezulike, Oliver, Wright, Bishop, Everitt,
Campbell, Worsley, Kirke, Halford, Strudwick, Delaney, Halvey,
Allen, Bates.
Not Used: Brennan, Cunningham, Alexopoulous, Hardwick, Hatley,
Dawson, Fahrensohn.
Tries: O'Shea, Ezulike 2, Oliver, Campbell,
Strudwick, Delaney, Halvey, Allen.
Cons: Everitt 2, Cunningham.
Pens: Everitt 2.
Att: 1,850
Ref: Ed Morrison (RFU).
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