Bath win but Falcons’ hopes live on

Good game at 12
By Adrian Laws
May 2 2011

 ‘I don’t really care if your boys win today. I just want a point’. The Falcons supporter who spoke to us as we walked up to Kingston Park from the Metro station summed up the afternoon perfectly. Like his team, he was disappointed and nervous, but he had not given up yet.

We were never going to see a repeat of the pyrotechnic rugby we saw last week on the wide open spaces of Twickenham. Newcastle, unlike Wasps, had everything to play for and frustrated early efforts to get the ball out wide and allow the Bath backline to put pedal to metal on the hard pitch.

The imminent arrival of Baby Banahan saw Butch James take the 10 shirt with Sam Vesty at 12. Butch struggled with the awkward wind blowing across the pitch and an initial penalty attempt failed – matched by a rare miss from the Falcon’s Gopperth. From early on this was going to be a tense affair.

Gopperth took the first points of the day with a penalty on 22 minutes, but Bath immediately replied through a patient, clinical work in the forwards edging closer to the Falcons line before Michael Claassens saw the gap and crossed the line. A missed conversion left a score of 3-5.

Butch and Gopperth exchanged penalties as the half drew to a close. Newcastle Falcons 6, Bath Rugby 8.

The second half offered more of the same. Sam Vesty briefly took over the kicking duties and extended the Bath lead on 57 minutes. As the hour came up Duncan Bell replaced David Wilson – with Wilson looking to have aggravated his previous ankle injury and the seriousness of Bath’s end of season injury list was highlighted with Vesty being replaced by scrum half Mark McMillan. Worse was to come as Duncan Bell left the pitch leaving Bath to play the last 10 minutes with 14 men and unable to contest the scrum.

The pressure was relieved when Butch added 3 points but the Falcons secured their precious bonus point when Fielden chased down a kick ahead. Did he win the foot race with Nick Abendanon? It would have taken a good referee not to have given the Falcons man the benefit of the doubt. Final score: Newcastle Flacons 11, Bath Rugby 14.

Bath go into next season with a Heineken cup place – and a good run in that competition must be a priority after failing to qualify from the pool stages in the last two years, Newcastle earn the bonus point which should see them safe. Next weekend, the Falcons visit the Rec. We will see the end of an era with the final appearance  of the legendary Danny Grewcock, and, given the current injury list, we may also see the future of the club with some of our youngsters drafted in to step up to the mark.