Gordon Ross kicks London Welsh to 15-9 win over London Irish

Good battle: Sailosi Tagicakibau and Gordon Ross vie for the ball

Gordon Ross: Kicked London Welsh to victory

Gordon Ross proved the hero as London Welsh edged out basement rivals London Irish 15-9 at the Kassam Stadium.

Gordon Ross proved the hero as London Welsh edged out basement rivals London Irish 15-9 at the Kassam Stadium.

The fly-half kicked five penalty goals for the hosts, while Tom Homer kicked two and Ian Humphreys landed one for the visitors.

However the game was ruined as a contest by the early dismissal of number eight Chris Hala'ufia which resulted in the visitors having to play 70 minutes with 14 men.

London Welsh took a fifth minute lead when Ross kicked his first penalty after Irish were penalised for dragging down a lineout drive.

Almost immediately, Welsh suffered a big blow when influential centre Hudson Tonga'uiha left the field with what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury.

The visitors then suffered a huge set back when Hala'ufia was sent off for a dangerous tip tackle on Welsh replacement Seb Jewell. The referee JP Doyle sought the advice of his touch judge before issuing a red card.

Hala'ufia expressed his regret by immediately walking over to the uninjured Jewell to shake his hand but the damage was already done. The resulting penalty was kicked by Ross.

With 15 minutes gone, Irish were again penalised to enable Ross to kick his third penalty to give his side a handy 9-0 advantage.

Homer put Irish on the scoreboard with a penalty before the visitors were given further hope when Humphreys kicked another.

When Matt Garvey carelessly lost possession, Irish again offended for Ross to be on target to leave Welsh deservedly ahead 12-6 at the interval.

The second period saw Ross and Homer add further penalties as Welsh hung on for a welcome win.

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