By Exilejonny
May 16 2006

As everyone descended on Welford Road, there were a conflicting expectations of the London Irish team. Some people thought we could win, others didn’t give us a chance.

Whatever anyone said there is no argument that we deserved to be there and if our away form was anything to go by we stood a chance of crushing yet another impressive home record.

The turnstiles were open early at Welford Road so supporters could watch the first Semi Final. Most people however took advantage of the early opening time to get a decent view from the terrace. I was one of the many and was greeted on arrival by the ever cheerful Bisach. There was plenty of pre-match banter between both set of supporters with the Irish ones getting their lungs ready for what would have to be a very loud afternoon if we were to be heard over the Welford Road faithful.

The teams were ready, the atmosphere was great and I couldn’t wait to see the best defence in the league take on the best attack. Unfortunately this time the best defence came out on top.

In the 2nd minute Tiggers got their first penalty as Declan was caught offside and gave Andy Goode his 1st chance to get Tiggers on the scoreboard. His inconsistent form of late continued and he missed his chance, LI were let off for an early error. However 3 minutes later Goodey redeemed himself by kicking a penalty conceded for not rolling away from the tackle. 5 mins Tiggers 3 – Irish 0

Paul Hodgson then spent 10 minutes on the sidelines for stamping on Harry Ellis. I don’t know what everyone else thinks but from where I was stood it looked like Dodge made every effort to jump over Harry and caught him in the head.

On the quarter our we were treated to the 1st try of the game. After some constant Tiggers pressure the impressive Lewis Moody broke the Irish line and was brought down just short of the try line. Rowntree continued the drive and then Ellis shipped the ball to Tuilagi who powered over for a try, confirmed by the 4th official. Goodey got the conversion from out wide. 15mins Tiggers 10 – Irish 0

I'm not sure exactly when this happened or why but we saw Ben Kay depart the field for 10 minutes and it was 14 on 14 for a while.

Irish’s first chance for some points came in the form of a penalty, which Flutey badly missed. Some 4 minutes later Irish did however get themselves on the scoresheet. From a line out Casey caught the ball and drove through the Tiggers pack. Dodge then released the ball to the lively Feau’nati who skipped past 3 players and then off loaded to Olivier Magne who ran in Irish’s 1st and only try of the afternoon. Flutey missed the conversion. 24mins Tiggers 10 – Irish 5

Many of us hoped that after the try Irish would now get themselves back in the game as Tiggers had dominated the opening 24 minutes. To our disappointment however Harry Ellis opened us up in the 31st minute stepping around Skuse and Hodgson then outpacing Delon to the try line. Goode was successful with the conversion. 31mins Tiggers 17 – Irish 5

Another penalty before half time for Tiggers saw the half time score Tiggers 20 – Irish 5

During the interval was the most moving moment of the afternoon when Matt Hampson came out to a standing ovation, which he truly deserves.

In the 2nd half Irish were first on the score sheet with a Mike Catt penalty but shortly afterwards Goode replies with a penalty for Tiggers 54min
Tiggers 23 – Irish 8

Now was the time for some changes and both teams made numerous subs. Any chance of a Irish come back was put to rest when Mike Catt’s miss pass was intercepted by Leon Lloyd who outpaced Tagicakibau to the try line.Goode missed the conversion. 58mins Tiggers 28 – Irish 8

Now we were treated to the try of the game, when Harry Ellis chipped over the top and Geordan Murphy raced through at full pace the ball popped into his hands and slid in for the try. A truly marvelous piece of skill. Goode got the conversion.66mins Tiggers 35 – Irish 8

If the score line wasn’t bad enough already the Tiggers rubbed salt into the wounds when Ollie Smith broke through and made a bad pass to Murphy, but a lucky bounce saw the ball bounce to Lloyd who outpaced Tagicakibau to the line once again.Goode missed the conversion. 72mins Tiggers 40 – Irish 8

All of Irish’s frustrations were shown at the end when a big brawl broke out at the final whistle. To be fair we were out played for the whole game. Tiggers did what they do best and slowed our ball down so we couldn’t release our backs. When we did manage to release them the Tiggers had ample cover. At the end of the day the best team won and I cant help but feel this was a step to far for Irish.

At the end of the game a lot of players looked disappointed, but I would like to say well done lads for what has been a truly great season. No one could have predicted how well we have done this season and you have done us all proud. So hold your heads high, go to the Stoop next week and bring home the silverware.