Leicester Tigers

Tigers led 16-3 at half-time through Adam Thompstone's seventh try of the season and 11 points from the boot of George Ford on his return from England Saxons duty.

Gordon Ross threatened to lead a London Welsh fightback on their first-ever Premiership visit to Welford Road with three penalties in 10 minutes early in the second half.

However, Niall Morris ended their hopes of a victory, latching on to Anthony Allen's clever pass to score at the right corner.

Dan Bowden grabbed his first try in Tigers' colours late in the game to set the seal on a win that put Tigers top of the Aviva Premiership after Round 14.

Matt Smith made Tigers history on his 100th start. He following his dad Ian, the former Tigers captain and coach, in making a century of starts for the club and in doing so became the first father-and-son combination to achieve the feat.

Allen, Morris and Thompstone returned to the Tigers backline, with Sam Harrison and Ford linking up at half-back. Tom Croft and Julian Salvi were named in the forward pack, with Marcos Ayerza and Logovi'i Mulipola joined by Rob Hawkins in the front row.

The game was still settling down when London Welsh took the lead. Salvi's late challenge on full-back Tom Arscott saw the visitors awarded a penalty was 10m inside the Leicester half and fly-half Ross knocked over his kick to put the visitors 3-0 ahead inside three minutes.

Tigers were level moments later when Sonny Parker was pinged for not rolling away and Ford, on his return from England Saxons duty, punished the offence with his first three points of the afternoon.

A brilliant clearance kick by Morris tight to the line found touch on the bounce, taking Tigers from deep in their own half up to the Welsh 22. Tigers then stole lineout ball and when the visitors infringed at a ruck a couple of phases later, Ford made it two from two with the penalty to put Tigers ahead for the first time in the game.

Ross was pinged for playing scrum-half Sam Harrison at a ruck but Ford, kicking from the left, hit the right-hand post with his penalty.

Welsh captain Jonathan Mills received a warning from referee Tim Wigglesworth for being on the wrong side of a ruck, his team's fifth penalty in quick succession. Tigers opted for the 5m lineout but drives by Salvi, Jordan Crane and Ayerza were well defended before a knock-on brought the attack to an end.

Ford's soft hands found Tait on an angled run into the visitors' 22 but the full-back went into contact despite an unmarked Croft unmarked offering an option on the left wing.

A similar move on the opposite side of the field paid dividends with the opening try. This time Ford found Thompstone's run and the wing slipped a couple of tackles before scoring his seventh try of the season behind the posts. Ford's extras moved Tigers 13-3 ahead after 27 minutes.

Ross missed the chance to cut the lead with a penalty, his kick from 40m struck the underside of the bar and bounced to Ford, who cleared to touch.

Welsh went down to 14 men five minutes before the break when flanker Michael Hills was shown the yellow card after another infringement by the visitors at the breakdown.

Tait tried to make the man advantage count with a strong run into the Welsh 22. Ayerza was tackled off the ball by Adam Balding as he tried to join the ruck to secure possession and Ford landed a simple penalty to put Tigers 16-3 ahead at half-time.

There were no changes during the break and it was the visitors who had the chance to score the first points of the second period but Arscott was wide with a penalty from halfway.

Logovi'i Mulipola punched a hole in the Welsh defence to creat space on the left, but Tait's pass went to ground with players queuing up outside.

Salvi was warned by the referee following a ruck offence on the Leicester 22, and Ross's penalty gave Welsh their first points since the third minute. Referee Wigglesworth called captain Deacon over for a final warning after he spotted Leicester hands in a ruck moments later. Ross knocked over the penalty, with the help of the left-hand post, to cut Tigers' lead to 16-9.

Ross chipped away at the Leicester lead with a scrum penalty, his third penalty in 10 minutes, to leave Tigers 16-12 ahead with 25 minutes remaining.

Tigers' response was immediate. Morris set up the position with a break into the Welsh 22 and two phases later he was on hand to collect Allen's smart pass and finish on the right. Ford's extras put Tigers 23-12 ahead.

Tigers pressed again but Ed Slater tried to force one too many pass and his offload was intercepted by Nick Scott. The wing broke 80m into the Leicester 22 where he tackled by Morris and Croft but Welsh flooded forward, secured possession and almost went over at the right corner. However, they were stopped illegally according to the referee who issued Crane with a yellow card.

Play restarted with a scrum, which Tigers disrupted and then turned over possession as No8 Ed Jackson tried to pick up at the base.

Tigers had to withstand a period of intense Welsh pressure. The visitors' forwards hammered away through phase after phase in the shadow of the Tigers posts but Richard Cockerill's men held firm. Eventually, the Tigers defence forced a knock-on under the posts and when Tigers won a penalty at the resulting scrum, Ford eased the pressure with his kick to touch.

Tigers scored a third try with 90 seconds remaining. Bowden, on as a replacement for Ford, angled a run off the back of a scrum to score at the left-hand corner for his first Tigers's try. His drop-goal attempt at the conversion was off target as Tigers' smelt a bonus-point try. However, there was only time for the restart and a handling error deep in their own half signalled the final whistle.