NICK Kennedy rued London Irish’s ‘disappointing’ second-half display as their 18-match unbeaten run was ended by Ospreys Premiership Select in the British & Irish Cup on Saturday, writes Richard Ashton.

Exiles conceded a first-minute try to full back Phil Jones, but appeared to have the game under control after tries from Johnny Williams, Ciaran Hearn and Ollie Hoskins, allied to nine points from the boot of Greig Tonks, put them 24-7 up 10 minutes into the second half.

However, after Sentiki Nayolo was sin-binned for a high tackle, a sterling fightback from the Welsh side saw them score 19 unanswered points courtesy of a brace of tries from Joe Thomas and one from fellow centre Kieran Williams, man-of-the-match Luke Price adding two further conversion.

Director of Rugby Kennedy admitted: “The performance in the second half was disappointing. The yellow card was a big momentum shift and they took their tries really well. They kept their foot on the gas and then they defended really well at the end of the game. All credit to the Ospreys team who beat us here, a place where we pride ourselves on our performances.”

He continued: “There were a few things we could have done better in the second half and we’ve got quite a few things to work on for next week. That will focus our attention in training.”

Exiles again gave many of their Academy players a chance to shine, with Harry Elrington, Matt Williams (pictured) and Tom Parton all starting and Ross Neal and Jacob Atkins coming off the bench, the latter in place of the injured Parton.

They were joined by more experienced campaigners such as Will Lloyd, Joe Trayfoot, Hearn and Topsy Ojo, but it is unlikely they will have done enough to guarantee a first-team spot when Irish return to Greene King IPA Championship action at Ealing next Saturday.

However, Kennedy said: “These guys have taken their chances every cup game so far. The Academy guys have been brilliant and the other guys who’ve been getting their game time have been excellent. The wins at Cornish Pirates, at Connacht Eagles, the home performances, we can’t fault them on one performance when they’ve been superb. This was a combination of a poor performance by us but also an excellent one by Ospreys.”