LV= Cup Final 20/03/2011 This Is The One

So, after our victory in the LV= Cup semi-final at the Stoop a week ago our reward is a final against Gloucester at Franklin's Gardens.  This tournament might mean little to some clubs, but for us a triumph on Sunday would mean so, so much.

This is our first final since the penultimate cup final of the all-English competition in 2004, when we defeated Sale 37-33 one of the most topsy-turvy games most of us will have ever seen.

Gloucester meanwhile have lost both of the last two Anglo-Welsh Cup finals, 50-12 to Cardiff at Twickenham in 2009 and 30-24 to Northampton at Sixways a year ago.

Interestingly, Gloucester and Newcastle/Gosforth are joint-third in the rankings of RFU Cup/Anglo-Welsh Cup winners with four victories apiece, and Sunday's winner will move into outright third one trophy behind Leicester's six but still way behind Bath, who have ten.

As for our previous cup record against the Cherry 'n' Whites, we have met six times in the various formats of this cup over the years.  The first time we ever played Gloucester was in 1977 at North Road in the John Player Cup quarter-final, winning 3-0.

The south-westerners got revenge in the second round at Kingsholm a year later and also triumphed at Gateshead Stadium (remember that?) in 1990, before Newcastle Gosforth, as we were then, won our first clash at Kingston Park 13-10 in November 1992.

In the Anglo-Welsh Cup the Falcons travelled to Kingsholm in the opening round of the 2007/08 tournament and played superbly, but a late home try gave Gloucester an 18-18 draw.

A year later at KP, a drab game memorable only for the “You lot under the clock” incident was won 10-11 by Gloucester, who secured a place in the semi-finals.

But this is a cup final on a neutral ground and anything can happen, we have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

In case anyone hasn't realised, we are now 80 minutes away from the promised land – the Heineken Cup.  Toulouse, Munster, Leinster, Toulon, Biarritz, Ospreys, Stade…I’m excited just thinking about it.  This will be our extra reward for winning on Sunday, and just another reason for us to cheer our heads off and help ensure it is James Hudson who lifts the cup at full-time!

The following 23 players are honoured with the responsibility of winning the Falcons’ first trophy for seven years, and have their opportunity to go down in North East sporting history.  Matt Thompson and Hall Charlton are the only ones to have worn a black shirt in a final before, and Charlton becomes the first player in our history to be selected in the squad for four finals, starting all on the bench:

15  Alex Tait

14  Luke Fielden

13  Tane Tu’ipulotu

12  James Fitzpatrick

11  Luke Eves

10  Jimmy Gopperth

9  Micky Young

1  Jon Golding

2  Matt Thompson

3  Kieran Brookes

4c  James Hudson

5  Andrew van der Heijden

6  Tim Swinson

7  Brent Wilson

8  Ally Hogg

16  Rob Vickers

17  Grant Shiells

18  James Hall

19  Filipo Levi

20  Mark Wilson

21  Hall Charlton

22  Gcobani Bobo

23  Tom Catterick

Gloucester have named the following side, which includes future Falcon Jordi Pasqualin and former black Rupert Harden:

15  Olly Morgan

14  Charlie Sharples

13  Tim Molenaar

12  Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu

11  Tom Voyce

10  Nicky Robinson

9  Jordi Pasqualin

1  Nick Wood

2  Olivier Azam

3  Rupert Harden

4  Jim Hamilton

5  Alex Brown

6  Akapusi Qera

7  Andy Hazell

8c  Luke Narraway

16  Darren Dawidiuk

17  Yann Thomas

18  Shaun Knight

19  Will James

20  Matt Cox

21  Tim Taylor

22  Freddie Burns

23  Henry Trinder

Tickets and (possibly) coach travel are still available, so if you haven’t booked to go to the final, what are you waiting for?