Exiles see light at end of tunnel

English Premiership - Newcastle 12 London Irish 12:LONDON IRISH head coach Toby Booth praised Newcastle for their spirited comeback at Kingston Park on Saturday.

Tries from George Stowers and Steffon Armitage looked to have set Irish on the way to their first win of 2010 as they took a 12-3 lead.

But home outhalf Jimmy Gopperth kicked three penalties after the break to tie the scores, having kicked one from three before the interval.

But Booth was not too critical of his side for letting their lead slip.

“It was probably a fair result as we were dominant for one half and so were they,” he said. “We had the upper hand in the lineout and they had the upper hand in the scrum, and it often goes like that.

“The disappointing thing for us is we let go a 12-3 lead, but you have to give people credit for that.

“You need to have a good platform and that helps your kicking game and it wavered a bit due to the pressure we were under, you have to give Newcastle credit for that.”

Booth hoped the result would see the Exiles, without a win in any competition since December, get back on track in their challenge for a top-four play-off spot.

“Hopefully that’s the U-turn that takes us back up the profile, as it was pretty lonely last week (when the Exiles suffered a 35-22 defeat against Bath).

“Having my bicep reattached, turning 40 and being beaten by 30 points capped a great weekend for me last week, to be fair!

“But there was a lot of effort out there tonight, we worked hard and we had trained exceptionally well and two points away from home could be crucial. Newcastle will make it difficult for teams coming here and I hope they do.

“Hopefully we are back on the right road, and if we can tighten up a few bits and pieces we will soon be back on the winning trail.”

NEWCASTLE:A Tait; Williams, Bobo, Tu'ipulotu, Amesbury; Gopperth, Young; Golding, Vickers, Hayman, Hudson, Swinson, B Wilson, Welch, Browne. Replacements:Vickerman for Amesbury (24), Sorenson for Welch (69), Afu for Browne (54).

LONDON IRISH:Homer; Ojo, Seveali'i, Mapusua, Hewat; Malone, Hodgson; Dermody, Paice, Ion, Roche, Casey, Thorpe, S Armitage, Stowers. Replacements:Lamb for Malone (54), Buckland for Paice (60), Rautenbach for Ion (45), Perry for Casey (69), Gibson for Thorpe (54).

Referee:R Debney (RFU).