Life Without Rob Andrew - Glasgow Away

By Leipziger
August 20 2006

Life without Rob Andrew began in Scotland last night as the Falcons lost the first two legs of their quadruple header against Glasgow last night at Burnbrae, but several new faces made strong impressions on supporters and coaches alike.

Over 1,800 braved heavy rain to see Newcastle’s first and academy teams take on rugby’s northern-most professional club, with a hefty number of away fans making the trip over the border.

 

A quick coach trip to Glasgow hit a spot of trouble when we drove to the wrong ground!  A couple of cars came into the car park after us, and Ian Drayton attempted to ask for directions – the car he caught simply drove away!  It came down to a telephone conversation with Bazmundo to get us to Burnbrae, still early at 2.30pm, plenty of time before the kick-offs.

 

The stars of the first match were Jon Golding and Tom Dillon, with Golding and fellow prop Robbie Morris having strong games and Dillon showing that he could become a top centre with some long, cutting midfield runs.  Glasgow’s development side drew first blood however following the 4.30pm kick-off.  Following a missed penalty, the home side kicked into a gaping space behind Cameron Johnston on the left and scored the opening try.

 

Morris and Jack Harrison were forced to defend well on their left soon after, and the first real forward movements the Falcons made in the first half were a couple of runs from Dillon from good Mark Mayerhofler and Toby Flood passing, and a 15 metre maul on the right hand side which was pushed into touch.

 

We managed to go into half time level though, as Flood kicked a penalty to the corner and after losing the ball in the lineout, we regained possession and debutant Brent Wilson was driven over, Flood converting.

 

At this point I headed to the bar from my seat in front of England new DoR Rob Andrew (!), and ran into Ruck n Roll and Dr. B in the bar.  As we returned to the stand with our liquid supplies, a steward refused us entry to the seats, as it wasn’t licenced for alcohol apparently.  Then we were asked to return to the bar from beside the pitch, finally settling behind a goal.

 

Another kick and chase try in the second half put Glasgow back into the lead, before their forwards took advantage of Golding being sin-binned to score the final try.  The Falcons battled late on to get back into the match, with replacement Tim Visser doing good work, but were eventually beaten 21-7.

 

John Rudd was the only new signing to make his debut from the start in the first team game, which was played in stormy conditions.  Dan Parks kicked an early penalty for Glasgow, before we attacked at pace with Joe Shaw and Phil Dowson, who had a good game on his return to 15-a-side rugby.  The home side were the better side in the first half, and another Parks penalty doubled their lead at half time.

 

Against the run of play in the second half, when the wind was with the Falcons, Glasgow flanker Donnie MacFadyen was driven over to score the first try of the match which Parks converted.  Glasgow attacked again, with Ollie Phillips forced into some vital defence.

 

For much of the rest of the match though, we dominated and after a few chances went begging, Ollie Phillips went over in the left corner to get us on the scoresheet.  Jonny Wilkinson converted the score, and with Toby Flood introduced from the bench we camped in the Glasgow 22, but despite some good driving and passing, the winning try just would not arrive. 

 

A good night was had by all, despite the indifferent Falcons performances, but there were numerous positives in that Jonny Wilkinson and especially Phil Dowson came through unscathed and playing well, and Jon Golding impressed.  Just the return games on Friday remain before the serious business begins.