Saracens down Irish in landmark US match
Rock-bottom London Irish, who led 13-7 at half-time, missed a chance to close their relegation gap in suburban Harrison, New Jersey.
"We always knew it was going to be a very tough game," Goode said.
"They came at us in the first half. I thought in the second half we came back well and showed a lot of grit.
"That second half showed a lot more what our defence is all about."
Saracens improved to 12-3 with one drawn on 57 points, two ahead of Exeter at the top of the table. London Irish slid to 3-13 on 13 points, unable to close an eight-point gap on 11th-place Newcastle.
Goode kicked his fourth and longest penalty of the second half in the 68th minute to give Saracens a 19-16 edge.
Grieg Tonks missed a penalty just beyond the right upright in the 72nd minute that would have pulled London Irish level again.
Saracens' Nick Tompkins smothered a late Irish kick and took the ball in for a 78th minute try that Goode converted for the final margin, denying Irish even a bonus point in the standings.
Goode said he was not disappointed to be omitted from the England side playing in the Six Nations.
"For me it's all about playing rugby," he said. "It's always fun to come back with the boys and it's great to be in New York and growing the game."
Tonks, who departed Pro 12 side Edinburgh two weeks ago for London Irish, opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the eighth minute, the first overseas points ever scored in English Premiership rugby.
Goode scored a try in the 15th minute and Ben Spencer, who missed two first-half penalty kick attempts, made the conversion.
But Alex Lewington answered with a try for Irish in the 18th minute and Tonks added a conversion plus a penalty kick in the 24th minute that gave London Irish a 13-7 half-time edge.
Goode put the ball between the uprights on penalty kicks in the 45th, 48th and 54th minutes to lift Saracens back in front 16-13 but Tonks responded with a penalty kick in the 58th minute to equalize.
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Tries: Lewington
Cons: Tonks
Pens: Tonks 3
For Saracens:
Tries: Goode, Tompkins
Cons: Spencer, Goode
Pens: Goode 4
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Tom Smallbone.
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Fergus Mulchrone.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 4 Mike Ellery, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jared Saunders, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 David Porecki, 17 Titi Lamositele, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Ben Ransom.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth, Ross Campbell
TMO: David Grashoff
@premrugby & AFP
