London Irish 20-13 Worcester Warriors: Irish off bottom spot
Last Updated: 07/02/16 6:57pm
London Irish lifted themselves off the bottom of the Aviva Premiership with a 20-13 victory over fellow strugglers Worcester on Sunday.
Ciaran Hearn and Andy Fenby scored the tries for Irish which, allied to Shane Geraghty's 10 points from the tee, was enough for the win.
Worcester kept them honest through second-half scores from Bryce Heem and Val Rapava-Ruskin.
The conditions at the Madejski Stadium provided the opportunity for running rugby and the Exiles made a bright start to the game, dominating the opening 10 minutes and going close on two occasions before Hearn finally got Irish across the line after 16 minutes with a spectacular solo effort.
The Canadian centre pounced on a loose ball before chipping over the defensive line, regathering his own kick and dotting down under the posts.
Worcester stuck back through a long-range Ryan Mills penalty, giving the home side a 10-3 lead going in to the break.
Heem cut the deficit further with the Warriors' first try of the afternoon after the New Zealander took advantage of an overlap to cross in the corner for an unconverted try.
Discipline became a problem for both sides in the second half with Worcester's Donncha O'Callaghan and London Irish's David Paice both seeing yellow.
After a period of sustained pressure from Irish Shane Geraghty played an inside pass which put Fenby over.
Replacement loosehead prop Rapava-Ruskin got the visitors once again within touching distance of Irish with a bulldozing run from five metres out to set up a tense final 10 minutes.
However Geraghty held his nerve to slot his second penalty of the match six minutes from time, lifting the Exiles off the base of the Premiership.