Exeter Chiefs exorcised the ghosts of their defeat to Newcastle Falcons with an emphatic bonus-point victory over London Irish at Sandy Park.
A try double from Damian Welch, coupled with other scores from Carl Rimmer, Henry Slade and Don Armand, ensured that the surprise 29-24 reverse at Kingston Park was quickly forgotten.
Fly-half Gareth Steenson produced a flawless kicking game for a personal haul of 19 points to inflict a maiden away victory of the season on the Exiles.
The visitors did bag three tries in the last 11 minutes through Blair Cowan (2) and Andrew Fenby, with Shane Geraghty converting all three plus an early penalty.
But that merely added a misleading gloss to the scoreline of a game dominated by the hosts almost from start to finish.
Rob Baxter made four changes to the side downed by the Falcons, and that seemed to do the trick as Exe made a promising start.
In the opening minutes, they won a scrum against the head and built two good attacks, both of which were halted by fine turnover work from the Exiles.
But nine minutes in, the pressure told with referee Ian Tempest – making his Premiership debut - penalising Irish for being offside at a ruck, allowing Steenson to bag three simple points.
But Irish responded just two minutes later, racing up the other end before intense pressure on the line drew a penalty, which was booted by Geraghty.
Exeter would not be denied though, and the recalled Rimmer - only playing due to ear infection for Ben Moon - ran a great line which was picked out by Will Chudley with a lovely inside pass for a try which was confirmed by the TMO.
Steenson added the extras before setting up Slade with a cute pass minutes later to send the young centre over.
Again Steenson converted to hand them a commanding 17-3 lead, and that increased to 23-3 after the Dungannon man kicked a couple of penalties.
And they were not done yet – a fine run from Jack Nowell saw the England wing offload beautifully as he was tackled, sending Welch over.
Steenson brought his personal tally of the half to 15 as he converted the try, and things went from bad to worse as Scott Steele came off injured and was replaced by Tomas O'Leary.
Baxter's men turned around 30-3 up, but given the frenetic pace of the opening 40, the second half began in somewhat pedestrian fashion.
The first 15 ticked by without incident before Chiefs started turning the screw once more and, after clever wing play by Nowell on the right, the ball was quickly shifted left for Welch to cross over again.
Steenson converted, and in the blink of an eye, the hosts were at it again. A splendid jinking run from Nowell sliced through Irish's flat-footed defence, before freeing Armand to his right to gallop over.
The unerring Steenson converted yet again before Irish counter-attacked, going desperately close to scoring only to be denied by some backs-to-the-wall defending.
The pressure was eventually relieved by a penalty, the frustration of which proved too much for David Paice, who was sin-binned after bundling over Haydn Thomas over as he looked for a quick tap.
Irish enjoyed another fine phase of play, with only a magnificent late tackle from Armand denying them a try.
But his good work was undone after Chiefs botched the line-out, allowing Blair Cowan to cross over unopposed.
Shane Geraghty converted, and slotted the extras just two minutes later after a fine length-of-the-field counter-attack sent Andrew Fenby under the posts.
A late surge with the final play of the game saw Cowan cross over again but even 21 points conceded in the final 11 minutes could not dampen Chiefs' spirits. Exeter Chiefs: Dollman, Nowell, Slade, Hill (Whitten, 64), Jess (James), Steenson, Chudley (Thomas, 57), Rimmer (Sturgess, 66), Yeandle Taione, 66), Francis (Low, 20), Lees (Caldwell, 60), Welch, Ewers, Armand, Waldrom (Horstmann, 59) Scorers - tries: Rimmer, Slade, Welch (2), Armand . Cons: Steenson (5). Pens: Steenson (3) London Irish: Fenby, Lewington (Short, HT), Sheridan, Geraghty, Ojo, Noakes, Steele (O'Leary, 38), Court, Paice, Aulika, Skivington, Sinclair (Leo, HT), Low, Guest (Cowans , HT), Narraway Reps (not used): Stevens, Parr, Cross, Mulchrone Scorers - tries: Cowan (2), Fenby. Cons: Geraghty (3). Pens: Geraghty Referee: Ian Tempest. Attendance: 8,654
