The media, the MB and all peers in the fight to retain Zippie status have us down already, and this was starting to open a small, wafer thin chink in my perverse optimism. Still, off I went, picking up waifs and strays on route, to arrive in a freezing cold Watford.

The feeling in the Red Lion was a mixture of blind optimism and well directed panic in light of the current plight. The delivery of the Craic Sticks by MWM provided a temporary reprieve from the doom and gloom of the recent games, and a certain subject matter could be heard throughout the crowd Inn.

The South stand drummers were established and a few of the older male supporters prepared their drooling glands for the entrance of the Sarries Starlets. They maneuvered in to their positions at center field to begin their routine. Clad in long next to nowt outfits, these hot women made most fellow droolers feel very cold! Then the musical build up commences, a build up that would not be lost on a West End Musical, before our beloved lads take the fielded.

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Cup Of Tea £1.00
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Selection changes already apparent with Mordt in for Catt and Horak replacing the in form 15 that is Armitage.

The game started with a Tofty drop to the Jaws cello screeching over the PA, which must have spooked them more than us as Glen Jackson knocks on for an Irish scrum after 2 phases of Sarries possession.

The pattern of play for the first quarter was set rather quickly, with Irish unable to secure quality ball, and Sarries, through Jackson, using the wind to place kicks deep into our half. There seemed to be a plan in place to burn Sarries on first phase, which was just not working. Through great lineout work on the our own 22 by RR, Nick and Bob, well placed box kicks from Darren, and excellent work in defence by all, made for stalemate to ensue. The discipline by both sides ensured that Rowden to did not give penalties to either side.

This changed on the quarter hour mark. A RR throw at an attacking lineout was judged not to be straight. From the Sarries scrum, Jackson unleashed an excellent kick that bounced within five of the LI line. RR hit Nick and the forwards mauled away from danger. The next phase ended with Nils adjudge to have held on to the ball in contact. This seemed harsh as the Sarries tackler made no attempt to roll away making it impossible for Nils to present the ball to the onrushing support.

14 mins Sarries 3 LI 0. Jackson pen

From the kick off, Sarries retained solid possession, and yet another kick from the boot of Jackson, pinned us inside our own half. Another well worked lineout from LI aided Tofty in clearing the lines. Sarries from their line out, maul then open the play with some excellent ball retention, committing the minimum to the contact area. The overlap on their right creates a 2 on 1 against Orak, who answers the question with a great tackle on Vivian. Sarries try and maintain the momentum before Rowden blows against Stan for being offside.

18 mins Sarries 6 LI 0. Jackson Pen

The pattern was still being employed, with Sarries kicking most of their possession away to achieve field position deep in our half. This was not putting any undue pressure on our defence as the lineout was working well. Our own possession was still not clicking, leaving the game in a state of flux. A missed penalty by Tofty after 22 minutes for Sarries having hands in the ruck made way for a decision that I will need answered. The resulting 22 after was kicked all the way into the LI half and beyond, before bouncing through the back of the LI touch and goal.

Question for the Ref

Now, if this were a re-start from the half way, then a scrum from the point of kick will be awarded. The result of this 22 from Rowden was a LI 22, not a scrum on the Sarries 22, where the kick was launched. Is this correct? If so, a great tactic if you can achieve it.

From this 22, Sarries were pinged for killing the ball, and then marched back 10 for decent. Sarries were further punished at the resulting lineout for closing the gap. This seemed to spark LI. The forwards began a long period of domination, and the backs started to get involved. After 27 minutes, we found ourselves in the recently acquired situation of being parked on the Sarries line, before knocking on. This happened in both corners of their try line in the space of 10 minutes and created a déjà vu situation for the traveling support.

Territory, possession and not a drop on the scoreboard was frustrating, which was to be made worse on the stroke of half time.

A rare break from Sarries saw them in a great position and with players to spare on the outside. A poor pass from Jackson aimed in the general direction of Vaikona was rewarded with a penalty to the attacking side.

Now all this cheerleading stuff and PA music much vented at Grid Iron in America has also rubbed off on Castaignede. The screen he played to prevent a defensive play was just awesome. Rowden seemed to acknowledge this play by gifting the kickable pen without any delay. GMC_LI, showing the true passion required to help LI achieve the unlikely win, vent his spleen somewhat. He apologized for the curse, but I must admit, there were a large percentage of the LI support that may have been reciting far more, err descriptive wording to this appalling decision. Gary, I felt you pain and forgive your outburst. You beat me to it!

40 mins Sarries 9 LI 0. Jackson pen

Half time, a game to chase in the next period. The summary of the half was a mirror of our recent demise against Sharks. Points will win games not potential points. The opportunities were there, but just the last part had to be executed for the points to start pouring in.

The half time break then provided a turning stage for the days events to unfold. Through skill and determination, Bisach takes the spoils (a mobile phone) for LISC in the mid term bomb. Word was relayed to the dressing room, and GG had a tangible success to rally the troops. Top bombing indeed

Also, the break provided a new release of drool with the Starlets back out for a routine clothed in The black shirt of Sarries, and a lower item of clothing that may have been described as shorts, but only just. We, as a group, chose to ignore this spectacle and focus on the next 40 minutes!

Jackson started the second half and LI knock on. The ball squirts out of the scrum and is lose inside the touch and goal area, before Orak mops up and coolly offloads to Penny. Penny remains calm and finds touch on our five. Great start! LI rally and win good ball at the lineout before Tofty clears our lines.

The situation is averted and leads to 10 minutes of determined play from the forwards. Gussie and Awesome are everywhere, in both attack and defence, and the backs were now getting good ball from a stable platform. The tight 5 were now dominating all parts of the field, especially in the set piece. Nick and Bob are securing lineout ball and La La and Beefy have found some lost youth to stabilise the scrummage.

From a Sarries scrum outside their 22, this point is proven. The 8 push and the 3 wheel the scrum, putting Bracken under pressure. Gussie gets his man and the ball is thrown without control towards the Sarries try line for Johnston to try and recover. In the mist of recovery, Gussie and Spud grab hold of him and place him over the try line. Scrum 5 to LI after superb forward pressure from 1 - 8.

From a strong scrum, Darren feeds Tofty who passes to Penny. With ball secure in hand, he then steps inside the slide defence, gets to his feet from a tap tackle before crashing over. Try Irish! Tofty adds the easy extras.

52 mins Sarries 9 Irish 7. Penny Try, Tofty conv

From the restart, The PA plays some outrageous tune before announcing Domino's Mayhem (or something like that). This means that if Sarries score any type of points in the next 5 minutes, we can all get 2 for 1 pizza at Domino's Pizza, Hemel Hamstead! Sarries delivery the order with a penalty after Awesome pulled down a lineout, with handbags (as depicted on the screen!) thrown after.

54 mins Sarries 12 Irish 7. Jackson pen. Domino's 2 For 1

Before the restart, Ratty takes the place of Spud and almost made the perfect introduction. Nick secures good lineout ball and Darren throws a quick ball to line, before Ratty gets his hands on it and breaks the line. He is brought down 2 meters short, but quick ball to the open side results in Tofty finding Stan out wide who storms over for the 5 pointer. London buses spring to mind when 2 tries turn up after a long wait. Tofty misses the wide kick.

59 mins Sarries 12 Irish 12. Stan Try

LI are now controlling the game all over the paddock. Our defence is hitting Sarries at source, ensuring that they do not make the gain line. We seem to be securing ball at will, and if we fail, then Sarries kick it back to us. They are being suffocated at every attempt. Even Awesome believes this is our day as he attempts a DG from the half way! Okay, it goes miles past, but ah.

Jackson misses the chance to put Sarries back into the lead with a pen that falls short, before Tofty makes way for the surprising bench man Barry. The next 10 minutes is tight with little in the way of providing a winner. Barry slides a DG attempt just past the post, but the game looks like it will go the distance.

After 71 minutes Strudders comes on to replace the irrepressible Bob, who goes off to a standing ovation. Strudders is fired up for this by the very glint in his eyes. Sarries have 6-7 phases of possession in the middle of the park, but are driven back at every phase by stern LI defence. Strudders makes 3 big tackles during 3 Sarries phases before Rowden blows for a penalty for holding on. Great work and a pen earned by defence. Barry slots with ease.

73 mins Sarries 12 LI 15. Barry pen.

From the restart, Sarries infringe to allow Barry to boot a long clearing kick deep in to the Sarries 22. Gussie is now given leave by Dec and Durrant replaces the hardworking Hardwick. From the line out, Sarries get their hands on the ball and are forced to try and retain this much need possession. A lose pass out wide sees Strudders intercept and place the ball between the sticks. Game over as far as the result and supporters are up on their feet. Barry slots the conversion on the stroke of 80 minutes.

80 mins Sarries 12 LI 25. Strudders Try, Barry conv

Now, to say that the traveling support were greedy at this point would be understating the resulting chants. 'We want four, we want four' rang around the South stand, accompanied by a determined drum corp.

Sarries were now forcing the game in attempt to gain a BP and now retaining the ball rather than Jackson booting it away. Time after time they tried to find the gaps, which resulted in them find a LI defender. That was until the defence produced loose ball. Penny picks up and sprints from outside our 22, before committing the Sarries fullback with a perfectly timed pass to Stan. Stan then sprints like a man possessed down the left wing inside the 5-metre tramline. A great covering tackle stops him short, but a galloping Awesome is on hand to receive the offload and T-R-Y B-O-N-U-S time. Barry misses his kick, but we don't care at all.

The place has now gone do-frickin-lalee, and the Fez boys are finished. The final whistle is blown, and London Irish have produced yet another memorable day in Watford.

The team have delivered a much need 5 POINTER, easing the worries of 'R' word happening to us. We are now 10 ahead of Saints, and can now take great confidence from a game won, and won well. The finished article the GG is seeking is not quite there, but a second half performance up there with Sale away.

The team won this and wanted it bad. Sarries fielded a very strong side, but we seemed to want it more in every department. Gussie was everywhere, Awesome is co-combatant, the second row won at least 95% of our own lineout, the front row stood up to be counted, Nils was immense, Penny had pace and desire, Orak turned in a superb performance and the replacements all made a massive impact. Not 1 bad game amongst them. Must also state that Barry showed more to his game than I have ever seen. He played the chaos line, distributed well, straightened the line and even performed crash ball duties. I feel I must mention him, especially after that performance as the missus, Denise, went to Waterford College with your man.

The walk back to the Red Lion was mixed with much joy and relief that we had done it. The forwards stood up to a man and won the skirmish, battle, and war. Each and every one of them should be proud of their contribution. The second half error count was excellent leading to sustained periods and phases of controlled play.

The defence by 1 - 20 was breathtaking leaving the Sarries with nowhere to run, and resulting in them kicking most of their hard earned possession away.

I now feel fairly vindicated with my positive outlook, although safety has still to be reached. 1 from 6 should ensure this, but now I am setting my sights on Sunday and the visit of Sickles Wasps!!

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