Falcons unbeaten record gone in hollow Bristol victory

364 days since the Falcons' last competitive defeat, we were beaten this afternoon by a spirited and quality Bristol team who will be dangerous opposition for anyone in the Championship next season.

Unfortunately for the celebrating visitors, their win was in vain as Leeds beat Nottingham to ensure that one playoff semi-final will be a Northern derby.

The Falcons seemed flat and disorganised at times, and often lacking ideas with poor kicks downfield with nobody chasing or being given a chance to chase.

Still, if that is the worst game we have this season and don't lose another, it'll all be forgotten by the end of May.

With a playoff place up for grabs if they could become the first team to beat us this season, and Leeds lost at home to second-placed Nottingham, Bristol had everything to play for today, while the Falcons were aiming to go through the whole regular season unbeaten and hit 100 points.

Bristol showed early on that they were here to win and put pressure on the home defence, and while Adrian Jarvis missed his first kick at goal, poor discipline provided further chances and with two penalties the visitors were 0-6 ahead before the Falcons appeared to have even started their engines.

Newcastle managed to put together an attack but were unable to break through the resolute south-western defence. Bristol were the better team and the scoreline took on an extremely unfamiliar look when Fautua Otto took a pass in midfield and outsprinted James Fitzpatrick, the last man in a high Falcons' defence, to score near the posts.

Jarvis converted and Kingston Park was a stunned and quiet place.

Jimmy Gopperth missed a penalty and as the Falcons looked to build an attack on the far left, Warren Fury threw away the opportunity by allowing his foot to drift into touch as he brought the ball out of a ruck. This schoolboy error summed up a first half in which our players' heads seemed to be somewhere else.

Mark Wilson also made a good break through the centre but overall there seemed little inspiration from the black shirts.

A little surprising if they were thinking ahead, as the last team we would want to play in the playoffs would be the only one that had beaten us in the whole league season.

Fury atoned for his error in the dying seconds of the first half though. Noah Cato stormed towards the tryline on the right but was hauled down short, only for the Welsh scrum-half to steal in for our first points of the day. Gopperth hit a difficult conversion and the half-time score looked a little better at 7-13.

Gopperth hit the second half kick-off straight out to groans in the South Stand, but these turned to cheers moments later. Alex Tait forced his way through the centre over halfway, and Adam Powell took over towards the right hand corner. The Falcons quickly brought the play over to the left and Ally Hogg broke through a feeble tackle attempt by George Watkins to touch down.

The conversion put us ahead for the first time on the day just four minutes after the restart.

Bristol did not lie down though and the Falcons struggled to put together any rhythm. Jarvis hit the post with a penalty but when the Falcons were penalised yet again, the fly-half put the visitors in front once more. Jarvis's fourth penalty gave Bristol a five-point lead.

Finally, the Falcons began to get organised with the introduction of James Goode and Rob Vickers, while Fitzpatrick and Powell both punched through the Bristol line but not close enough for us to capitalise.

Approaching the end of the game, the Falcons won a couple of penalties and drove towards the tryline. Each time Bristol managed to hold out, the referee ignoring occasional collapsed mauls but also a sneaky knock-on by Powell.

Referee Ian Tempest was not making himself popular with the home support but prompted howls and shaken heads in equal measure when Alex Tait was brought to the ground, got back up but was penalised for holding on in a tackle just metres from the line. Will Welch was certainly confused and I have to wonder what explanation the he was given by Mr Tempest.

The game continued after Bristol's lineout on halfway but the Falcons were unable to regain possession and the visitors saw out a victory that will see them go into the close season with optimism for next year, while hopefully any complacency that had crept into the Newcastle camp has been sharply arrested.