Tommy Bell kicks London Irish to 29-18 victory against Yorkshire Carnegie

Yorkshire Carnegie 18 - 29 London Irish, Headingley

London Irish's chances of returning back to the Aviva Premiership has received a huge boost after their 18-29 victory over Yorkshire Carnegie in the first leg of the final in Headingley on Wednesday.

Bell opened the account for London Irish with a second minute penalty but his counterpart Joe Ford helped Yorkshire level the scores 3-3 in the fifth minute.

An infringement from Carnegie second row Matt Smith allowed Bell to score his second penalty and put the visitors back into three point lead. Hobbs-Awoyemi soon stretched the London Irish's lead to 10 points when he crossed over in the 13th minute and Bell added the conversion.

Yorkshire continued to be relentless as they once again bounced back with Mike Mayhew strolling past the post but Ford missed the conversion which meant the home side were trailing 8-13.

For the first time in the game, Yorkshire Carnegie got into the lead with a touchdown from Jonah Holmes that helped him level with Doncaster's Tyson Lewis at the top of the Championship try-scoring chart. The home side went into half time with a slender lead of two points (15-13).

However, London Irish showed more intent in the second half with try from Fergus Mulchrone while Bell added a conversion and kicked three penalties as well to take their tally to 29 points while Ford's solitary conversion remained the only points for Yorkshire in the second half as they succumbed to a 11 point defeat.

The teams will now shift to Madejski Stadium for the second leg final to be played next Wednesday.