I'm sure nobody wants to read about the latest failure of Leipy Trains, so let's just say that when I arrived at Sandy Park at 2.55pm yesterday I might have been hot and out of breath, but I was mighty relieved.
The Geordies congregated at the eastern end of the South Terrace of Sandy Park and were intent on giving the Exeter fans a good go off the pitch on our Falcons' first visit to this part of the world.
Personally I think we let the home fans know they'd been in a contest.
Certainly the Falcons, with Alex Tait restored to the starting XV and Rob Vickerman making his first start of the season, and Exeter had little left to give after this blood and thunder match.
The Chiefs, having had a better start to life in the Premiership than they had probably dreamed of, took the lead early on through a Gareth Steenson.
Redford Pennycook was then sin-binned for a late tackle on the home fly-half as he cleared from his in-goal area. I'd say the card was fair if I hadn't seen so many such tackles go un-carded before – think Ellis on Wilkinson in 2005.
With Luke Eves again helping out in the scrum, the Falcons repelled Exeter's powerful forwards on our line and stopped a menacing maul on halfway before Pennycook returned.
Then we attacked and Charlie Amesbury was fed on the left. Chipping ahead he found only a diving defender but Micky Young forced a scrum, and from the set-play Amesbury was put through under the posts.
Jimmy Gopperth converted, but the lead didn't last very long. A mix-up between Young and his forwards at a defensive scrum allowed Tom Johnson to score from the loose ball, Steenson converting.
A Gopperth penalty got us level, but more poignant for the away fans in the rest of the first half was the loss of James Hudson with what looked like an ankle injury. Glen Townson performed well as his replacement, but you can't help but feel the loss of one of the very best locks in the Premiership.
We managed to hold out in the last few minutes of the first half, conceding no more points to go into the break 10-10. During a half-time that felt very long, I considered the importance of the next try. If we got it, I was sure we'd win. If Exeter did, then we might have a long way back.
As it was, neither was really true. Exeter again had more possession in the second half and went ahead again with two penalties. Steenson hit the post with another attempt and I expected the home heads to drop.
Especially when on a rare trip to the Chiefs' 22 our forwards laid the ground work for Vickerman to score. I am told the referee put his arm up to signal a try, but if he did he must have put it back down very quickly.
Did we care? Well, yes. At least until it was clear that our boys were heading back to the halfway line and the Chiefs were congregating under the posts. Between the very posts that Gopperth intersected with his conversion.
16-17 the right way. At this point, Alan Tait made a strange replacement, Jeremy Manning for Vickerman. Now his try notwithstanding, Vickerman didn't have a great game today, in contrast to Eves who put in his best performance in a black (well, grey and white) shirt so far.
But bringing on a creative centre for a more defensive one when we'd just gone ahead with 14 minutes left was a little unexpected.
I hope we aren't going back to the old days of pre-planned, inflexible replacements that take no account of the actual course of the match. Unless, as is quite possible, there was something I on the terraces did not know.
As it was, within a couple of minutes Exeter had retaken the lead through another penalty, and Steenson's fifth three-pointer put the hosts within touching distance of victory.
The Chiefs managed to keep possession until the final couple of minutes when we stole and replacement winger Luke Fielden steamed upfield on the left. The ball came across the field but Micky Young was caught in possession and we were penalised for coming in at the side.
Exeter kicked for touch with seconds left and to their probable annoyance were forced to take the lineout. Tim Swinson competed but Exeter won the ball and kicked out to secure their win.
As I think back to the game, I realise our forwards were challenged more than they had been in the previous two games, and I think as at Sale we are lacking a bit of creativity in the backs.
Are we missing Tulip more than has been mentioned in recent weeks? Eves was good today, but as a basher, not the creator that we are missing in the centres. If I was Alan Tait I would be thinking about how to combine Gopperth, Manning and Eves for Saturday.
Despite his yellow card I thought Pennycook did well yesterday, but our best player was Ally Hogg. An absolute workhorse, he saved a try with a first-half interception, was everywhere he should have been and tackled like a lion.
While Exeter will undoubtedly take some thumpings on the road this season, I expect more teams than Gloucester will leave Sandy Park with nothing before May.
The key now for us is how we respond to a defeat to the pre-season relegation favourites. We have lost two games to teams expected to be around the bottom of the table, and the upcoming two matches are ones we have not done well in in recent years. But that's why we have a new coaching team, I would think.
Falcons slip up in the Sand
Posted by: FalconsRugby.org.uk (IP Logged)
Date: 19/09/2010 08:43
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A very good report as always, which also throws up some recurring themes, even so early in the season. Namely:
More creativity needed in the backs, despite 2 tries today.
Errors, spilling the ball, penalty counts are still killing us.
Losing to the teams expected to be around the bottom undoubtedly puts pressure on the home form.
We are going to have to win a higher proportion of home games to keep above the drop zone, which will be the real challenge.
Early days, but interesting to see how some things remain the same.
Excellent report. Interesting thought about Gopperth/Manning. I know that Gopperth wasn't fit for the first game but was surprised that Manning wasn't preferred at 12 to Henderson and Eves after that, as he appeared to be in some form, while not too many have rated Henderson.
I hope in the same way that Leipy mentions not having set substitutions (like England and MJ), that we are not picking players for a specific position rather than form players.
Errors let us down but a lose bonus in an away & an v v entertaining match. Exeter are looking good but from chatting to a couple of fans near us they have concerned re the depth of their squad should injuries occur.
& can I just add brilliant trip organised by the supporters club. Had a great weekend. Got no voice to teach with tomorrow but thats a minor detail!!!
Handy having the highlights at the side when reading this and Mally is on there.
Manning could have been a very sensible change Leipy - extra kicker for clearing the ball too and his defence his ok.
The result wasnt good enough but we did alot better against them than Gloucester I suppose and Steenson is a bloody good kicker to get the win for them despite us scoring more tries.
I also think we were poorer when Hudson went off and had a big effect.
We've still looked alot better than last season so far and much more entertaining rugby and we're scoring tries so heading in the right direction.
The fortunes of us, Sale, Leeds & Exeter will hang heavily on luck with the injury season. I have a feeling that Wasps will be vulnerable too. Exeter are at a particular disadvantage due to the stupid play offs which prevented them from signing players to bolster their squad until too late, but they can hardly complain as without the stupid play offs they would have had yet another season in ND1. They seem to be doing the right thing however, another signing this week, they would be wise to add more.
I'd add Gloucester and Harlequins to the mix Monkey, the more the merrier. I think Gloucester seem not to have a clue again since McGeechan went to Bath. And Harlequins have a good core of English players but their second row combination is one of the weakest in the Premiership.The scrum is should be another area of weakness for them, as well as if Nick Evans gets injured at 10. Clegg still makes a lot of basic errors and is no good at game management, yet.
Glos & Quins certainly have issues, but not because of weaker squads, they are just playing self destruct rugby. Glos did the same at the beginning of last season & sorted themselves out. Remember that Quins & Saints both managed to get themselves relegated despite having decent squads.
I reckon the 5 teams that I mentioned are the ones vulnerable to defeats due to a lack of strength in depth as a whole across the squad, Quins & Glos are vulnerable to something much worse, a total lack of a will to live.
I have to agree with that assessment. I dont know whether you picked up on this, but last season Gloucester only started playing well once they had McGeechan working as their consultant, so I wonder if it might be a coaching issue? My be Redpath just does not cut it?
According to Tait it was to give more preparation time for away games. No guarantee we'd have beaten Exeter if we had played Wasps last Saturday or Sunday though, or even last Thursday.
Its going to be a long hard struggle as has already been said as we have been well outplayed by two of the relegation favourites and although we managed to beat Wasps I cannot see them being with the fodder come seasons end.I have an awful ominous feeling about this season and I hope some decent results will take it away.
We also did alot better than Gloucester did against Exeter (the same side people were raving about after their performance against leicester) and we should have nicked it at the end. As for Fridays we have played one and won it so far.
The only reason the Falcons did better than Gloucester was that Robinson had a bad day with the boot. I doubt the Gloucester pack was as dominated in the second half as we apparently were. If we win against the Irish the defeat won't be too damaging. If we lose it will likely be the start of a relegation battle.
AS regards Exeter, what I meant was BEFORE the season started most would have expected Exeter to be the whipping boys, with Sale and us a close second/third (in no particular order).
Both teams have beaten us, admittedly on their home patch, but I'm seriously worried, particularly as it's obvious we have real problems in the centres and our captain is now out for an absolute minimum of 6 weeks.
So DG if we don't get two wins in the next three games, what would you do then? Sack Tait and put Moriarty in charge? And if he doesn't do any better, do we sack him after six games and get someone else in? And if that doesn't improve things...
We haven't had a fantastic start to the season but it's way too early to be making such drastic and disruptive changes.
Just a bit of common sense required. Get a few games out of the way & see how we are doing after that. If we are looking competitive then that means all is going in the right direction. Setting absolute numerical standards is just silly.
Agreed. DG says some silly things but that has to be one of the silliest. Look back over the history of the Premiership and there are many examples of teams that have taken half or season or more to get kick-started.
If we're bottom of the league at the turn of the year I shall start to fret a bit.
And fans wanted entertaining rugby with more tries from our lads and thats certianly happening so worth giving them the time. Take last week for example people wanted tries from the backs and got them and we were very close to winning that game on Saturday too.
last Friday's comeback performance was good enough to tell me that we can't be too far away. It sounds like we are still suffering a bit from lack of a competitive pre-season and getting to grips with refferee interpretations. That is to be expected, we aren't world beaters and can't expect to compete at the top end of the league at present. We have to have faith, build on some good home performances and pinch the odd good away performance points. That realistically is as much as we can expect this season.
Just to put things in perspective, other teams that appear not to be firing on all cylinders yet this season:
Wasps
Glos
Leeds
Quins
Irish
Barf
and last but by no means least, the salary cap stretching big spenders of English rugby - Leicester.
League positions are meaningless just 3 games in. Rememeber a few seasons ago when we were top of the prem 4 - 5 games in? hardly reflected on the season ahead. Barf were distinctly average against Oirish, and tonked by Saints.
It's better than heavily losing them and we blew the chance to win the game in the last minute on saturday when he had an overlap on down the right. Point being it wasnt a disaster of an away game on sat agianst a team who are looking good.
If a poster has decided for whatever reason not to display their name on the internet, and you continually use their real name just because you don't like them, you WILL be banned.
It is not going to help the suppy club if one of the committee gets banned for being an idiot.
Last warning & I mean it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:21:20:13:18 by Monkey1.
well tell mr DGNTR to quit with his attitude - and he hasnt been banned yet called people to55ers and @#$%& etc , or is that okay in the eyes of the editors as he never gets warned.
We also had the chief editor post a laughing smiley in response to someone calling me a W***** which you werent even happy about.
Its say at top not to be abusive but says nowt about using someones real name ?
If you wish to discuss other incidents you are free to do so, but on this one particular issue you have been warned previously. It is quite simple, just do not do it again.
I just have but you havent responded ? How come he isnt on final warning for those ? or and your mate touchy thinking it was funny someone called me a W""""""
Surely your complaint should be about somebody calling you a w*****, not somebody else finding it amusing. I can hardly suggest that somebody be warned for laughing at a comment that has been made about you.
If you wish to start a thread about abuse feel free to do so, but may I suggest that one of Leipy's match reports is an inappropriate place for such a discussion.
It was but surely it sets the tone for the messageboard if the chief editor finds it amusing and why hasnt DG been warned about his abuse. I've asked 3 times and obviously he hasnt so you can take my warning back please.
And majority of threads go off topic anyway so hardly a problem.
Steve, your suppy club contributions are too valuable to be lost through a red card for responding to DGNTR. Most readers acknowledge that he is the master baiter on this site, so don't waste your time falling for his purile tactics.
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