Friday night lights shine for Wild Geese

London Irish Wild Geese 71 - 12 Edenderry RFC

Hazelwood looked fantastic in the August sunshine, a fine welcome for the touring party, our friends from Edenderry.

With a strong performance from the squad on Thursday evening, Friday night's team had a lot to live up too.

A blistering start from the Geese saw quick tries from two of our younger squad members. Full back Ben Stevens opened the scoring with a fine finish and Kyle O'Mahony joined him on the score sheet. A dominant first period saw fly half, Mark Abraham impress on his Geese debut. Further tries came from James Madle, George Frampton, two from James McLoughlin and another from O'Mahony. Abraham was consistent from the tee with 6 conversions.

Edenderry found the pace of the game difficult but they fought hard and had periods when they caused us problems.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first. The Geese maintained their shape and high tempo approach. Conor Gilligan capped a strong preseason with a very good game, dominating the line out and bossing restarts. Tries from Ed Harte (2), Alexander Veselkov and Jordan Warner.

Wild Geese Head Coach, John Lacey said "We set a high standard last night and challenged tonight's squad to match or surpass it. They certainly put their hands up!

I was really impressed with Mark Abraham and Ben Stevens. They played really well, organising the side, setting our shape and keeping the tempo high.

Again our defence worked well, we stressed our systems tonight by removing players. we coped pretty well in fairness.

We've got a big week now as we go into the final week of our preseason programme. Rosslyn Park Rangers, away, will be a massive test. Their players will be eager to impress the coaching staff. We'll have to be at the very top of our game to take some momentum into the League campaign".

London Irish Wild Geese

1. Byrne 2. Frampton 3. Jones 4. Gilligan 5. Cassin (c) 6. Wedja 7. Bushell 8. Donegan 9. Molloy 10. Abraham 11. O'Mahony 12. McLoughlin 13. Gomez 14. Madle 15. Stevens

Replacements

16. Redmond 17. Harte 18. Veselkov 19. Hall 20. Hood 21. Campbell 22. Warner

Scorers

Tries - Stevens, O'Mahony (2), Madle, Frampton, McLoughlin (2), Harte (2), Veselkov, Warner

Cons - Abraham (7), Redmond