Oh what a perfect day!
By Leipziger
February 28 2011
Well if this ain't been just a brilliant day! All trains on time going north, nice couple of pints with the Slackers over the Scotland-Ireland game, snake bake from a hidden Greggs, and an East Coast conductor very kindly letting me get an earlier train home. I get the feeling I'm forgetting something...
Oh yes, our Falcons took a massive step towards Premiership safety by beating Leeds at Headingley!
The game was a strange one, as we were never really in any danger, yet until nearly half-time we were unable to press home our superior quality.
And of course there is the fact that we known few teams can mess up a winning position like we can.
The match started superbly from a black point of view as Ally Hogg dived in for the opening try within the first ten minutes. The TV ref was called on but will have had little difficulty deciding to award the score.
Jimmy Gopperth missed the conversion, but it was still an excellent start to an attritional but absorbing first half. Proper chances were rare but the Falcons, led from the very front by the superb Jon Golding, Matt Thompson and Kieran Brookes, broke tackles like I haven't seen for a while.
A run by James Hudson might have brought reward had he steamed for the line instead of coming inside, as he had team-mates on his shoulder. A neat move involving a kick from Gopperth to Alex Tait also went begging.
Leeds had a lot of heart but I, and others, thought they lacked quality. It was almost half-time though before we scored again, Gopperth knocking over a penalty.
As the clock hit zero, Gopperth had the ball on our line but didn't kick for touch, instead booting into the home half. I wondered what on earth he was doing, but we won another penalty and went into half-time 0-11 up!
The Falcons controlled the first 20 minutes of the second half, not scoring tries but extending the lead anyway through two more Gopperth penalties.
Around the hour Leeds managed to put together their first real attack of the half and were almost over under the posts. A double tackle saved a try but Thompson was sent to the bin (harshly in my opinion) for not killing the ball..
By now Leeds needed tries so they went for the scrum but we defended.
Thompson did not return from the bin, temporarily-replaced Tim Swinson joining Rob Vickers back on the pitch just before the Cardigans' pressure paid off with ten minutes left. Replacement hooker Scott Freer forced his way to the line and the TMO was again called on to correctly award a try, Freer just about getting the ball down on the line.
The conversion missed. The Falcons kept their composure and repelled all further home efforts before breaking.
Jeremy Manning, one of the stand-out players on a day when few had a bad game, got his reward by scoring on the left after a perfect assist set him up towards a gap in the home defence with just four minutes left.
Jerry's emotion at scoring was so beautiful to see. Gopperth missed the conversion but who cares?
Our 5-22 victory opens up a seven-point gap between ourselves and Leeds. We are still not safe, but it will be very hard for the Yorkshiremen to make that deficit up now.
I started reading 'How to win friends and influence people' on my way north today, and the first two chapters take about how we shouldn't criticise others, but offer positive feedback. As I read it I wondered how I would manage to write a non-critical report if Leeds were to win.
But I should have known better. After all, I was the one who said that when it really matters, the Falcons deliver. They have delivered again.
Well done to the whole team, there were some quite superb performances out there today. And what an atmosphere amongst the away fans!
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Get in!
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I reckon there were about 300 Falcons fans in the ground and the support for our boys was absolutely fantastic. We never stopped chanting and singing and I couldn't help wondering why we can't generate that sort of atmosphere at KP.
I felt almost sorry for the Leeds fans who must have wondered what had hit them. They seemed resigned to defeat almost from the start and their muted chorus of Leeds, Leeds, was no match for the Geordie contingent.
I've always believed that our team are better than their league position suggests. Yesterday they proved it, playing with passion and heart and not a little skill.
Well done boys!
Well played Falcons, and - to the travelling fans - thank you for your support. We could hear you on the telly, all the way through.
I don't suppose a 5.30 kick-off on a Sunday night helps (especally when its live on the TV), but I was really surprised that Leeds could only muster 5,000 fans for such a crucial game.
Leipziger, you have summed up what was a great day perfectly.
Mentions for the quality on the pitch to VDH, the front row and Hudson led from the front really really well, although run straight when you intercept please!!
Lets work even harder to beat Quins on friday and really move away from the basement.
I rarely take issue with you, but I have to say it looked clear on the TV replays that Matt T deliberately killed the ball by lying on the wrong side and deserved his card.
In a strange way I didn't mind because he has been the most improved player at KP recently and was thinking to lose only 3 points instead of 7. In the event the Cardigans took the srcum and got nothing. Happy days.
Thumper Jr looked like a different player. Apart from one overthrow he picked out the jumper every time, got around the park and clearly made a big contribution in the scrum where it didn't seem to matter which props we had on even though as was pointed out on TV Brookes was getting away with illegal binding much of the time.
MY also had a good game, after a couple of wild passes in the first few minutes he settled down well.
Leeds look a very poor team, I was surprised just how bad they were. Surely the absence of Fourie and Thompson couldn't make that much difference? On that display they won#t win another match and don't deserve to.
The only player of theirs that looks useful was Stevo who I'd swap for Tait anytime.
Now the euphoria has died down, time for a spot of realism. This result doesn't suddenly make us a great team even though I believe we are now safe from relegation. Despite dominating the scrums and lineout we seemed to allow Leeds an awful lot of possession, fortunately our defence was awesome. However a better team would have scored several times with all that ball.
Stats showed Leeds had 66% of possession and Falcons made over 3 times as many tackles. Think Leeds made 40 odd and we made 120+. This tells quite a story and shows how we defended and how poorly Leeds used the possession.
Quote:Happy Hooker
Excellent report Leipy. It was my first away match this year and what a reward! Not only did we win handsomely I even won the sweepstake on the bus for the scorer of the first try - Ally Hogg - and pocketed £30 to boot!
I reckon there were about 300 Falcons fans in the ground and the support for our boys was absolutely fantastic. We never stopped chanting and singing and I couldn't help wondering why we can't generate that sort of atmosphere at KP.
I felt almost sorry for the Leeds fans who must have wondered what had hit them. They seemed resigned to defeat almost from the start and their muted chorus of Leeds, Leeds, was no match for the Geordie contingent.
I've always believed that our team are better than their league position suggests. Yesterday they proved it, playing with passion and heart and not a little skill.
Well done boys!
I agree with all the above, I thought the pre-match was better than ours at KP and the Stewards were helpful and friendly and new where things were!
Just a shame I didn't win any money
Quote:Happy Hooker
...I reckon there were about 300 Falcons fans in the ground and the support for our boys was absolutely fantastic. We never stopped chanting and singing and I couldn't help wondering why we can't generate that sort of atmosphere at KP. ...Well done boys!
Its not unusual, as a cardiff Blues supporter we have the same issues. Whilst home crowds at the Cardiff City Library are bigger than yours it often easier to get more noise from a few die hards who have travelled (and suffered often) by coach. It must have been a relief to you all. A co-worker who is a ST holder at Falcons is not on IM today which I take to possibly mean they are still celerating?
Best of luck for the last few rounds. Good to see a club that "grows" its players.
C'mon you Blues - one dream - one region - one headache - Justda One Cornetto, Give it to me.
Fantastic support by the travelling many - like watching England in 03 out sing the Aussies in Sydney.
Thumper Jr did deserve his card sadly. However, he also made absolutely the right decision in earning it too, so no gripes from me. Was shocked to see he had learnt to throw, and quite pleased in the early stages to see him on the wing supporting Fielden as otherwise poor Luke could have been badly isolated.
Feel sorry for Mike 19.5 stone,60 international caps, 120 games for Leeds, 31 years old MacDonald. Kieran 19.5 stone, 0 caps, 30 games for Falcons, 20 years old Brookes should be made to apologise.
Wise head on young shoulders
Just saying
Leeds had twice as much possession as us and we made 3 times as many tackles.
We had very few scoring opportunites but we took what was on offer on most of those.
Leeds had all of the ball but weren't good enough to break us down, except the once of course.
Leeds were woeful, I cannot see them winning another game, I hadn't realised they were that bad.
A few awards from me:-
Thumper - for his pre-match speech to the players, it worked clearly
Thumper Jnr- best display in a Falcons shirt by him and our most improved player this season. I don't often describe a players contribution as awesome, but I thought Jnr was just that yesterday.
Micky Young - despite huge pressure to deliver, by and large he did, well done to him
Coaching team - tactics spot on for the first time this season, clearly did their homework, had a game plan and the team worked it well.
Hudson - led by example, a true captains performamnce
Fitzy - newcomer of the season, he's still raw, has a huge amount to learn, but he was a real nuisance yesterday, I like that in a midfielder, brilliant, well done
The travelling support - noisy beggars but boy it helped I'm sure
Brookes - the how to teach your granny to suck eggs award, nuff sed
As Blackie would say, onwards and upwards, I truly hope so anyway, c'mon guys, let us all really believe that.
Quote:That was my point. You would have thought MacDonald was experienced enough to sort Brookes'tactics out
My point was that there's no way you can sort it out other than doing the same yourself then the scrum goes down immediately as there's no bind at all.
What could Macdonald do if he's bound properly and Brookes or whoever is bound on his binding arm and pushing down?
Only wish it could be more often. I'm always honest with my assessment of games and with my views on the club etc., sadly there are some people who just think we should always be full of praise no matter what, the more objective of us know that's not been possible, let's hope that can change and we can build some momentum.
Cant speak highly enough of our supporters though , they were incredible throughout much like at Sale and Bristol and despite much alcohol being consumed and such a big game etc all were well behaved and back to the buses on time etc - makes our efforts as a supporters club worthwhile.
Team certainly played with the passion the Thompsons have for the club and hopefully it carries over. Now i'm off to think about that Simpsons episode....