London Irish set about restoring their shattered confidence with victory over Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup today.
Irish, beaten five times from six starts in the Zurich Premiership, built on an impressive European display against Toulouse last weekend by sending Edinburgh packing from the Madejski Stadium on the end of a 24-8 defeat.
When the tournament resumes in December, Irish face back-to-back Pool Five appointments with struggling Welsh club Newport, and today's victory kept their quarter-final chances alive.
Irish scored two tries in wet and windy conditions, scrum-half Darren Edwards and full-back Michael Horak touching down, but it was 14 points form the boot of fly-half Barry Everitt that made a telling difference.
"We controlled the game very comfortably. There was only one team going to win the match," said the club's rugby director Conor O'Shea.
"Conditions were difficult, but we were physical and committed. Barry's kicking kept the scoreboard ticking over, and it certainly wasn't the day to be pretty.
"In the context of our season, it is only one win, but if we continue playing like that then we will be hard to play against.
"It is a long way before we are turning any corner, but it is a start."
Edinburgh found themselves 11-0 down after just 12 minutes, and they never really recovered and saw their skipper Todd Blackadder sin-binned in the second half for a technical infringement.
"Everyone knows that it is so difficult to win away from home in this competition, but if we are as competitive at Newport and Toulouse, then we might get something," said Edinburgh coach Frank Hadden.
"I felt that it was an opportunity missed for us today. I thought that we played reasonable
PA