February 7th 2003
By Leipziger
August 2 2007
WOW! AARGH! OH MY GOD! 9-0 down at HT, Leeds had a yellow card on 50 minutes, we scored a converted try. Plugging away, on 77 Wilkinson kicked a penalty and we were 9-10 up! The drama wasn’t over, in injury time Mower was sin-binned and van Straaten scored the 3. The referee still didn’t blow, and we attacked. Right in front of me, Noon passed (“forward”) to Stephenson who was tackled…
time seemed to stand still, until Hall Charlton grabbed the ball and ran in for the try that might keep us up!!! Jonny’s conversion was the last kick of the match, me and the many Falcons supporters around me danced and cheered the players as they came over and applauded us!
That is what will keep us up. Everything I saw tonight. Resilience, togetherness, and above all commitment and belief. We wasted so many chances in the 1st half I almost gave up but at the end as the scoreboard read
TYKES 12
FALCONS 17
I just kept throwing my hands up cheering and smiling. Let’s have a look at the relegation battle now…
London Irish 26
Bristol 26
NEWCASTLE25
Bath 23
What a relief to be off bottom! As long as Bath don’t win at Gloucester tomorrow we will be off bottom for at least 5 weeks and that will be a major psychological boost for us, and there’ll be less pressure at Wasps on 1/3.
Well it’s 23.10 should be back in Manchester soon. Only worries from tonight are Epi who was flat near the end and Jonny, who went down a few times and once looked like his arms were in spasm! Not good but he played on and though he wasn’t at his most commanding tonight he made good decisions and kicked the vital goals.
My mind wandered back to the Millenium season and the vital win at Harlequins, which after they’d beaten us recently at home had seemed improbable. Like tonight looking at the league table, and the fact that we hadn’t won away in the league since the corresponding game (and weekend!) last year. But we turned up and did the business.
Relegation is still a real threat and though a little pressure has been lifted in terms of league position, the fact remains we must go to Wasps and into every remaining match with the mentality as if we are still bottom. Every match must still be won to ensure we will stay up. That was, is and remains the only aim.