Chiefs shot down by Lamb
London Irish survived a scare at Sandy Park to see off Exeter 12-9 and move back to the top of the Aviva Premiership table.
By Rob Lancaster
Last Updated: 23/10/10 8:15pm
London Irish survived a real scare at Sandy Park to see off a brave Exeter side 12-9 and move back to the top of the Aviva Premiership.
Ryan Lamb's penalty with four minutes to go proved the difference between two sides with very different ambitions for the current season.
The fly-half kicked all the Exiles' points as they managed to escape unscathed from a venue that had already accounted for Gloucester and Newcastle.
A losing bonus point was no more than the Chiefs deserved, though they had hopes of much, much more when they went 9-6 ahead in the second half.
Hard nut
But, even in defeat, Rob Baxter's side had shown that they will be a hard nut to crack during their debut campaign in the top flight, particularly on home soil.
Boosted by their European exploits in Bourgoin, Exeter wasted little time in getting stuck into the star names in the opposition line-up. Led by the sizeable presence of prop Chris Budgen, they disrupted the normally powerful Exiles' pack, while Haydn Thomas was a constant nuisance from scrum-half.
The visitors were fortunate to see Gareth Steenson push wide his first penalty attempt before Lamb broke the deadlock in the 17th minute.
Exeter refused to go away though, Steenson levelling matters five minutes later before then booting his side in front shortly before the interval.
However their lead didn't even last until half-time; Lamb's wonderful kick to touch, and Nick Kennedy's resulting line-out steal, leading to another Exiles penalty that was converted with the final kick of the first 40 minutes.
Heavy rain at the break made life even tougher for Irish, though Delon Armitage didn't help their cause by getting himself sent to the sin-bin.
A high shot on Andrew Higgins left the former Bath man prone on the deck and forced referee Wayne Barnes to take out his yellow card six minutes after the re-start.
Stormy period
Despite the one-man advantage the Chiefs proved unable to add any further points. They had to weather a storm when Armitage came back on the field, the Exiles huffing and puffing but proving unable to blow Exeter's line down.
Instead it was Exeter who scored next through replacement Ryan Davis, the fly-half making an immediate impression after coming on for the injured Steenson with a long-range drop goal.
At that stage it seemed the sub was going to be the hero for the hosts. However he turned into the villain when he knocked on a straightforward pass, the resulting scrum leading to an Exiles penalty well within Lamb's range.
The former Gloucester player duly slotted over to make it nine apiece and he then arrowed over another three points, following an offside call at a ruck, that proved to be the downfall of the Chiefs.
