A masterly kicking display from London Irish full-back Tom Homer condemned defending champions Gloucester to a 23-15 LV= Cup defeat.

Homer: Six from six penalties

But it was young Gloucester winger Ian Clark who stole the show with two tries at the Madejski on Saturday, one of them an outstanding solo effort, on his starting debut for the Cherry and Whites.

Homer kicked six out of six penalties, with hooker Brian Blaney grabbing an early try for the Exiles.

Gloucester looked out of it in the second half, but Clark's double plus a conversion and penalty from former England captain Mike Tindall - stepping in at fly-half instead of his normal centre role - kept them in with a chance.

With nothing to play for, both teams threw the ball around although mistakes by Gloucester cost them as Irish ran up a 14-0 half-time lead.

Indeed, the West Country side failed to get going for the vast majority of the match, with their only chance of putting points on the board coming six minutes before the interval.

Scrum-half Dave Lewis snipped down the blindside of a scrum, chipped ahead and would have scored had home wing Sailosi Tagicakibau not been covering.

By then, though, Irish had put their marker down. Homer punished mistakes with some big penalty goals, kicking efforts twice from 40 metres and another from a metre inside 50.

Blaney rounded off a neat move inside the Gloucester 22 when the ball was spun through fly-half Dan Bowden to former England centre Shontayne Hape for Blaney to charge 22 metres down the wing and bounce through three would-be tacklers for the touchdown.

Irish centre Jonathan Spratt was also put away on 40 metres for a dash down the centre which only came to nothing after a saving tackle from the home defence.

But there was one moment of madness as both teams got to grips with each other, with fists flying, leaving referee Sean Davey reading both captains the riot act before getting the match back on track.

The most noticeable aspect of the match in that period, and soon after the break, was Gloucester's lack of a regular goal-kicker who could land the ball through the sticks from long range.

Three times they had a penalty around halfway, and three times Tindall looked for touch instead of the goal.

Yet when Irish gave away a penalty in front of their posts just 15 metres away, Tindall booted it to the ironic cheers of the Madejski Stadium crowd.

Another advantage Irish had over their opponents was with their contact area possession which the pack, led by prop and captain Clarke Dermody, worked hard to secure.

So Irish were looking good to extend their lead - before young academy ace Clark, making his first start for the Cherry and Whites, took the game by the scruff of the neck.

He had already shown bravery by catching two high balls under pressure but then put on the after-burners from 60 metres on the left wing to first beat Tagicakibau's lunging tackle and then outpace covering Homer for a glorious try which Tindall converted.

The game was suddenly back in the balance, with Irish just four points ahead.

But the revival lasted just moments as Gloucester gave away two penalties, which Homer obliged with, to take Irish 10 points ahead on the hour.

However, the Cherry and Whites upped their game again as they attacked inside the Exiles' 22. And, when the ball came across to the left, wing James Simpson-Daniel fed Clark to steal in at the corner from five metres.

Another mistake gave Homer the chance to slot his sixth penalty of the game, though, to finish off the scoring.