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Worrying Times
Unless you've been avoiding any sports news outlets you'll be aware that London Irish is currently in a state of "transition". Owner Mick Crossan has, for some time, been looking to off-load the club as he's paid his dues, however, being London Irish to the bone he's not simply dumping the club like a hot rock and heading off into the sun. Mr Crossan and the club have been looking for viable new owners who will take the club forward.
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Late There, Late Away
It was a last minute decision to go to the game Saturday, and none of the usual ground work was done regarding the travelling arrangements to the G-Tech stadium, therefore I arrived 15 minutes, late missing our opening try and a Northampton penalty, I was very disappointed with my performance, I decided to have a word with myself and give myself the wagging finger at half time.
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Solving the problem...
For some time now we've had a problem: people are fed up with having to write stories to keep the site online and as a consequence the site has been offline more often than this correspondent is happy with.
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Back in the Mix
In a reversal of common belief London Irish recently started to put together a string of wins and edge their way up the table into the crowded mid-field where a few points separate 7 teams. Back-to-back wins against Harlequins at home and, crucially, Bath away had seen the Exiles hit 5th place in the table. Expectations were altered by a home, narrow loss to Leicester dropping Irish back to 7th and making the trip to Newcastle more meaningful.
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Continued Unfounded Doubts
My friend and I experienced difficulty with our normal route to the ground on Sunday, we were outwitted by the LU with the various closures of lines to make the journey to the G-Tech stadium, we finally got to the Gunnersbury tube station with no time to partake in the supping of beer, due to the time constraints, we even got a bus from the tube station to the ground.
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Unfounded Doubts (again)
I have not been able to get to a game since the win against Newcastle at the start of Dec, what with the Holidays, Train Strikes and having the dreaded Lurgie for the first time in 3 years, it was getting a bit desperate.
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Moving To The Dark Side
I am going to start off with a moan. The Premiership cup has caused a few dilemmas with the demise of Worcester and Wasps and the mismatch of games played and finding games to play to even out the leagues. We were sitting in a good place with maximum points but needed one more fixture to balance out the league. The compromise that was drawn up was good giving 4 sides the extra game leaving and Exeter getting a result against Worcester. This meant we were to play Bath at home, a side who had nothing to play for. Now here is the gripe. It was always going to be mid week but is partly there to make up lost revenue at difficult times. So when picking the date why was 4th Jan chosen? It was already known at the time there would be rail strikes! The other extra game is not for two weeks so it is not down to the premiership requiring to get the games done. Ridiculous and a loss of an opportunity to garner extra income.
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Twas the night before the night before Christmas
I can say this loudly now, but I could never admit to be quietly optimistic in the build up to our festive game. Once the line ups were announced, seeing how strong we were and who sarries were missing, this was a game we could go after. We had a big win in us, and Christmas was the time to deliver against the best team in the country. The media team had already told us we were expecting the biggest crowd of the season, and arriving an hour early, that was clear to see. Plenty fans arrived early and the bars and stands were filling nicely.
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A win's a win
There was a lot of anticipation ahead of our first home game in 43 days. The weather has certainly changed since we were last pitchside at GCS, probably still balmy compared to what our northern friends are used to at Kingston Park. I hadn’t even arrived at the game before seeing the update that Benhard had pulled out during the warm up. He has been our stand out player this season and this was the game we were meant to finally click and get the win. Whilst having a pre game drink, I see Tom Pearson walk by with his arm wrapped up and fingers strapped, this day was getting worse. I’d hoped he was just being rested. Anyway, time to take a seat and let the fun begin. As I head down the steps I see a strapped foot resting on the back of my seat. Henry was in the audience alongside some of the other lads. There was time for a quick chat , turns out the timeframe of six weeks out I had read this week was wrong, very wrong. He’s out for 12 weeks. I never thought I’d say this but with all the bandaging I’d witnessed so far, the game would be a relaxing distraction.
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My Favourite Shirt(s)
I first started coming to London Irish games in 2000 at the Madejski, which was a good choice. Had always been into watching the sport on telly, remembering the red shirted players of Wales in the 1970s Five Nations. Then me and my mates started watch the 5/6 Nations in the Orange Tree in Richmond as tickets were hard to come by.