TOPSY OJO says nobody at London Irish has contemplated the impact of not securing promotion on Wednesday night.
The Exiles are in pole position to seal an immediate return to the Premiership when they welcome Yorkshire Carnegie to Madejski Stadium (7.45pm) with a 29-18 advantage from last week’s first leg at Headingley.
And club legend Ojo says that Irish have to be playing in the top flight again.
“It’s all that we’ve worked for right the way from the start of July in pre-season,” Ojo told The Wokingham Paper.
“To be on the verge of that now is pretty exciting.
“Obviously there’s a long way to go but we’ve set ourselves up nicely and we’re just looking forward to it now.
“I don’t know if I can put into words what it would mean.
“We’re fully focussed on getting the job done and being promoted.
“I don’t think anybody’s contemplated not going up.
“We’re fully focussed on making sure we’re ready to perform on Wednesday.”
The Exiles made a slow start in Leeds, trailing 15-13 at the break despite a Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi try.
But a storming second half display saw the visitors open up a healthy lead with Fergus Mulchrone crossing the whitewash and Tommy Bell in-form with his boot.
And Ojo admits it took Irish a bit of time to get going.
“They came out the blocks firing and had a really good first half,” said the winger.
“We actually started well but then were probably a bit shell-shocked with how they came back at us.
“It was what we expected from them with the crowd on their side. I guess it’s good from us to compose ourselves at half-time, regather and then slowly take control of the game.”
He added: “I think we’d actually gone away from a few things that we’d practiced in terms of what we do.
“We knew that Yorkshire were going to come out and play so we just needed a gentle reminder at half-time as to what has been working for us through the season.
“It wasn’t a major shift, but a gentle reminder.
“I think if you’d offered us an 11-point lead before the game, we would’ve taken it.
“It’s a nice little buffer.
“We need to take full advantage of that lead, build our way through the game and make sure that we just keep charge of the scoreboard.
“We understand that we do have an 11-point lead, but we treat it as a 0-0 game.
“When the opportunity comes to score tries, we need to be completely ruthless and make sure we take those opportunities.
“I think if we can further stretch the lead, the more desperate Yorkshire might get and start to do things that they don’t really want to, which will play into our hands.”
Ojo was the only change from the London Irish side which cruised past Doncaster Knights 74-25 on aggregate in the semi-finals, replacing the injured Joe Cokanasiga.
But the club’s all-time record try-scorer says his past performances showed he could be an asset to the side.
“I didn’t feel I had anything to prove,” said Ojo.
“Everybody knows what I’m capable of and what I’ve done through the years.
“Joe got the nod in the semi-final, he picked up a knock and I was next in line. It was just a case of coming in and doing what the guys know I can do, bringing that experience, that leadership and get us over the finishing line.”
He added: “Our fans have been brilliant all season.
“We’re definitely expecting a full house on Wednesday and we’re really looking forward to repaying them.
“They’ve travelled up and down the country with us this year, stuck through some of the worst times so it would be nice to be able to reward them with promotion.”
