Premiership: London Wasps 19-16 Exeter
- Published
Andy Goode's drop-goal with the final kick of the game earned Wasps a narrow victory over Exeter.
Exeter led 13-3 at the break through a Dave Lewis converted try and two Henry Slade penalties, with Wasps' points coming from the boot of Elliot Daly.
Andy Goode reduced the visitors' lead to 13-9 with two penalties before Joe Simpson's converted try gave the home side the lead.
Slade levelled the game with his third penalty before Goode's late heroics.
Exeter blasted out of the blocks thanks to a solid line-out platform and Lewis's quick thinking.
The alert scrum-half raced through to register the game's first try just two minutes in, punishing Wasps' sloppiness in not posting the ruck, before Slade's conversion consolidated Exeter's perfect start.
Long-range specialist Daly stepped up and put the hosts onto the scoreboard with a penalty, but Slade soon restored Exeter's seven-point cushion.
Full-back Daly then coughed up a high ball under scant pressure and Exeter drove Wasps into conceding a penalty at the scrum.
Slade slotted the easy points to extend the Chiefs' lead to 13-3 just past the half hour.
Chiefs' tighthead prop Hoani Tui suffered a neck injury scare, carried off by stretcher after lengthy on-field treatment.
After the break Wasps won a scrum penalty and Goode duly converted and soon they had their first try with Simpson mimicking Lewis's first-half score for Exeter, sneaking round a ruck to race home unimpeded.
Wasps had the lead for the first time, which Goode's conversion extended to three points, before Slade slotted a penalty to level the scores at 16-16.
Not to be denied, Wasps hit back, set a platform in the Exeter half, and Goode delivered.
VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
London Wasps outside half Andy Goode: "I took my time over that drop-goal, I couldn't have hit it any better to be honest.
"You know when you hit them if it holds the line it's going over, and lucky enough it did because I was pretty terrible for the rest of the game.
"Hopefully people just remember the drop-goal. I didn't need to listen to the crowd to know how badly I was playing in that first half, actually for 79 minutes.
"I changed my boots at half-time, which probably helped psychologically.
"I'll go to bed tonight remembering how badly I played, and that I was lucky to get away with it at the end there."
Exeter boss Rob Baxter: "I'm going to need to see what was reviewed again.
"The quality of what's shown on the big screen is not the same as what the TMO sees.
"I think it was important Sladey got the full 80 minutes on his full debut. In hindsight we'll look back on a missed opportunity.
"But it was always going to be a game full of momentum shifts, and those are the games it's important for him to experience.
"So that's why we left him out there, and I think he came through it really well."
SUNDAY'S LINE-UPS
Wasps: Daly, V. Helu, C. Bell, Hayter, Varndell, Goode, Simpson, Mullan, Festuccia, Cooper-Woolley, Palmer, Launchbury, Johnson, Thompson, Pitman.
Replacements: Taylor for Cooper-Woolley (55), Myall for Palmer (61), Jackson for Pitman (67).
Not Used: Lindsay, McIntyre, Davies, Carlisle, Suniula.
Exeter: Arscott, Nowell, Whitten, Shoemark, James, Slade, Lewis, Moon, Whitehead, Tui, Mumm, Hanks, Johnson, White, Ewers.
Replacements: Hill for Shoemark (67), Yeandle for Whitehead (49), Brown for Tui (38), Welch for Hanks (49), Horstmann for White (68).
Not Used: Rimmer, Chudley, Steenson.
Attendance: 5,356
Referee: Andrew Small (RFU).
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