Too many mistakes cost Falcons going top

In conditions that mirrored those of last weekend, Falcons were shook by French side Brive in the European Cup which destroyed their chance of going through to the next round top of Pool 4. Andy Goode, who has been called into training with the England Saxons team, stepped up to the mark late on in the second half to convert the match-winning try, leaving the score 9-10 at full time.

After last weekend’s superb display against Gloucester, the Falcons started in a similar vein – no more aimless kicking down the park and potentially no more errors. Yet to the disappointment of regular fans, this only lasted minutes into the first half with Falcons slipping back into their old habit of aimless kicking.

Brive had to quickly adapt to the atrocious weather conditions and keep the ball in their hands. Yet they found this difficult, which resulted in the game turning into a battle of the boot with penalties being awarded left, right and centre from an Irish referee who couldn’t seem to grasp the concept of offside throughout the game. Stand in fly-half Tom May (or Jonny May as he was renamed in the SS) saw that the wind was working in his favour and managed to slot nine points in the first half to give the Falcons a 9-0 lead at half time.

The weather seemed to improve in the second half with handling being the only problem in the rain. It took Brive only a minute into the second half to get on the score sheet through Andy Goode converting a penalty from Falcons’ consistent knocking-on.

After the penalty, the chances came and went for both Falcons and Brive. Andy Goode missed a few chances at a drop goal, met with huge delight from the South Stand.

However the inevitable did eventually come in the 72^nd minute when Brive winger Norman Ligari went crashing through the gap in the Falcons’ defence and scored a try in the corner. Andy Goode calmly stepped up and converted the try to make it 10-9 to Brive.

After the restart, fans screamed in the South Stand for some action up in Brive’s half and it took only 6 minutes of frantic play until Falcons were sniffing around Brive’s try line. The Falcons were pushing and pushing closer to the line, however when the ball was recycled to Micky Ward, he couldn’t keep hold of the ball and Andy Goode saw this as a chance to clear the line once and for all. Goode managed to clear any danger away from the Brive line and Falcons players struggled to get back.