 Johne Murphy scored Leicester's first try on Boxing Day |
London Irish: (18) 26
Tries: Geraghty, Ojo, S Armitage
Cons: Geraghty
Pens: Geraghty 2, Everitt
Leicester (10) 25
Tries: J Murphy, Corry, Moody, Al Tuilagi
Cons: Goode
Pens: Goode
London Irish produced a huge defensive display to beat Premiership leaders Leicester on Tuesday afternoon.
Tries from Shane Geraghty and Topsy Ojo helped the hosts into an 18-10 lead at the break, with Leicester hitting back through Johne Murphy and Martin Corry.
Steffon Armitage's try put the hosts 23-13 up before Lewis Moody went over.
Barry Everitt landed a late penalty to make sure of an Exiles win but Alesana Tuilagi's last-gasp score meant the Tigers went home with two bonus points.
Leicester's cause was not helped by out-of-sorts fly-half Andy Goode, who missed five kicks from seven attempts, but in attacking terms it was a case of inspiration overcoming perspiration at the Madejski Stadium.
Leicester have made their way back to the top of the table almost by stealth, not a quality usually associated with the Tigers, and there was nothing subtle about their performance.
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They dominated both territory and possession and hammered away at the Exiles for virtually the entire 80 minutes, but in the end it was a few moments of decisive attacking from the hosts which secured the points.
London Irish scored inside the first two minutes, although there was more than a touch of good fortune in Geraghty's try.
When the hosts attacked down the blind-side Leicester centre Ollie Smith looked as though he was blocked but play was waved on and Geraghty scooted over from Delon Armitage's inside pass.
The young English fly-half could not add the conversion but soon landed a penalty to give the hosts an 8-0 lead.
The Tigers then bit back with a fine try from first-phase possession, although there was again a hint of controversy.
Tuilagi made the initial bust through the middle from a scrum and a Murphy one-two saw Geordan feed Johne, who raced over from 40 metres.
Sam Vesty's pass to Geordan Murphy looked forward, but at least the luck had evened itself out.
The mis-firing Goode was off target with the conversion and, just as it looked as though the visitors were ready to take control, the Exiles exploded into life.
They took a quick tap penalty deep in their own half, Justin Bishop threw a delicious dummy and Ojo was on his inside shoulder to cruise in under the posts.
Geraghty converted to make it 18-5 after 23 minutes but Leicester made sure they were in touch at the break when captain Corry was driven over from a line-out after the Tigers kicked a penalty to the corner.
Goode again missed the conversion but he landed a penalty early in the second half to trim the gap to five points.
Geraghty failed with a long-range penalty on the hour mark but the hosts were finally out of their own 22 and they extended their lead when Steffon Armitage finished off a sweeping attack in the corner.
Replacement fly-half Everitt could not add the conversion.
With just over 10 minutes left the Tigers hit back the only way they knew how, Moody driving over from a line-out, but Goode was horribly off target with the conversion.
When Everitt drilled over a 73rd-minute penalty to give London Irish an eight-point advantage it looked as though Leicester would leave with nothing.
But Tuilagi had been a threat all day and he powered over, with Goode converting, to earn the Tigers a bonus point not just for losing by less than seven points, but a further one for scoring four tries as well.
London Irish head coach Brian Smith:
"We have put in some gutsy performances this season, and we had to produce another one today. "The boys showed terrific courage, especially in defence, and they must have made 160-odd tackles out there."
Leicester head coach Pat Howard
"I thought we had a genuine shot at taking the four games over this Christmas and New Year period, but 16 points is still attainable. "We had a reasonable amount of field position, but we were a little naive at times in attack.
"Irish defended very well, and they kicked their kicks."
London Irish: Armitage; Ojo, Mordt, Mapusua, Bishop; Geraghty, Hodgson; Hatley, Coetzee, Rautenbach, Hudson, Casey, Roche, Magne, Murphy. Replacements: Lea'aetoa, Paice, Kennedy, Armitage, McCullen, Rees, Horak.
Leicester: G Murphy; Tuilagi, Youngs, Smith, J Murphy; Goode, Ellis; Moreno, Buckland, Castrogiovanni, Hamilton, Kay, Deacon, Moody, Corry (capt). Replacements: Chuter, Holford, Cullen, Croft, F Murphy, Burke, Vesty.
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