'…WHEN SCARLETS EYES ARE SHINING!'

 

‘WHEN SCARLETS EYES ARE SHINING!’

 

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

 

It is two wins out of two in the LV= Cup as the Scarlet Army once again travelled over the Severn Bridge to take on a strong London Irish side in the home of Reading FC. The young Scarlets side, out-played the Exiles in every area of play, and controlled a hard fought victory.

In return, the travelling supporters, many of those taking advantage of the ‘try before you buy’ incentive, out-sang, and out-shouted the disappointing home crowd, despite the frequent, over-enthusiastic ‘Let’s get behind the boys….come on you Irish!!’ attempts of the Reading Stadium announcer.

The Scarlets began the game well, with good attacking rugby and a solid scrummaging performance, but it was the home team that secured the opening score, with Elvis Seveali’i scoring a converted try under the posts.

Despite being on the back foot, the young visitors did not panic, but kept a solid defensive line and soaked up the pressure until Irish were penalised.

Steven Shingler, who was a late replacement, secured the opening points for the Scarlets, and repeated the feat minutes later to double to Scarlets’ score, cutting the deficit to just a point.

Shingler, with kicking boots on, and Irish’s Chris Malone exchanged penalties during some excellent passages of play. The Scarlets found it difficult to break through the Irish defences, but kept ball in hand, played the basics well and inched forward, patiently going through the phases.

Unfortunately, it was London Irish who went into half time leading by 13 points to 12 after another Malone kick, but the Scarlets kept fighting, looking for that illusive try.

The second half was more of the same, with the Scarlets’ powerful forwards carrying the ball well, and gaining good ground. Ben ‘Missile’ Morgan gained the yards and Jonathan Edwards proved to be excellent in defence, putting in huge try-saving tackles.

The visitors came close to scoring their first try after several minutes of superb forward play was completed by centre Scott Williams crossing the invisible try line! The try was disallowed by the TMO, who deemed he had grounded the ball short. This was a difficult decision, as the pitch was marked for a football game, with no try line, and must surely have been confusing for the players!

Steve Shingler then missed his first penalty of the afternoon, but Malone increased the London Irish score to 16. However, the Exiles were soon reduced to 14 men when Richard Thorpe was sin-binned for dangerously tackling Daniel Evans in the air – he was fortunate the card shown was yellow, not red.

The young Scarlets took full advantage of their extra man, and with ‘Calon Lân’ ringing around the ground, little winger Lee Williams crossed the try line, eventually grounding the ball just short of the dead ball line to the delight of the away supporters.

Despite London Irish having a reputation for a strong final 15 minutes, it was the Scarlets who kept their hands on the ball, and worked tirelessly to ensure the game wasn’t lost in the dying minutes.

Shingler added another penalty, and as the home team’s confidence began to wane, Malone missed a kick at goal. Irish didn’t relent though, but their pressure was soaked up by the Scarlets, who were awarded a penalty on 80 minutes for their efforts.

Steve Shingler rounded off a superb kicking performance by knocking this one over from inside his own half, bringing his personal tally for the afternoon to 20 points.

Seconds later the referee blew for full time giving the Scarlets an away win of 25 points to 16 against the leaders of the Aviva Premiership.

Whilst the London Irish team gathered in a huddle in the middle of the pitch, the Scarlets made their way to the Fosters South Stand to thank the travelling supporters who had once again played a very vocal and important part in the team’s success.

Next Sunday, it’s Magner’s League action once again, as the Scarlets cross the Irish Sea in a top of the table clash against Munster.