From the history books: Fabulous Falcons stun Saracens

The 2011/12 season may have ended in relegation, but it began with Newcastle Falcons winning the Premiership 7s at the Stoop, on what was a very happy 29th birthday for me:

The Falcons last night avenged last year's Premiership Sevens final defeat to Saracens with a heart-pounding victory at the Twickenham Stoop.

Despite being two tries down to Harlequins in the group meeting and then giving away a similar lead to trail the “English club with a strong South African flavour” in the final, the Falcons continued a strong sevens record over recent years to lift the trophy.

The form book suggested Saracens would meet the winners of the Falcons-Harlequins game in the final, and the hosts got off to a good start by beating Wasps 19-0. Despite two early scores they were unable to find the bonus point, something that almost proved crucial.

Saracens then justified their tag as favourites by destroying Bath 38-7.

The Falcons then took the field to meet Wasps, hoping to set up a shootout with Harlequins. A first-half hat-trick by Luke Fielden and a further score by Chris Pilgrim, all well-received by five Falcons fans with ESPN cameras focused on them, gave us a 24-0 lead at half-time.

In the second half Pilgrim and Joel Hodgson secured a relatively simple victory, though Wasps scored last on to give their fans something to cheer on a bad night.

Saracens secured their place in the final with a 21-5 win against Sale, not quite the rout many might have been expecting but it did the job for them.

Then it was time for the game of the group stages, the Falcons v Harlequins for the second final place. The game started horrifically from our point of view as Miles Mantella and Ross Chisholm scored early tries, the conversion of the second one putting us 12-0 down.

Just like last week though the Falcons kept their heads and despite a vocal home crowd Alex Tait scored under the posts just before half-time, Hodgson kicking the conversion.

The Falcons probed away in the second half but struggled against the strong Quins defence and their own errors, before finally Will Chudley broke through to equalise. Fielden's conversion missed, but our bonus point against Wasps meant a draw was good enough.

Early in the evening I saw a Quins fan wearing a t-shirt about their Amlin final this year against Stade, reading “Four minutes to go, there was only one winner, except history didn't record that”. I thought “I remember another cup final involving Quins when that happened”, and also “The last time I was here [the LV semi in March] the same thing happened”.

And it did again. In the dying seconds, just as the gone-but-not-forgotten Tane Tu'ipulotu did back in the semi-final, Fielden stormed over the line in the north-east corner to put us into the final. Never mind the final, that was tense enough!

Group B still had to tie up its loose ends, the dead rubber between Bath and Sale. The Bathplugs won what was probably a decent enough game for those watching it 28-12, but there was more important business to think about.

For one Falcon that immediately involved racing a Saracens fan in giant beach balls to win a bottle of wine, although after winning it turned out he had also got two tickets to the Premiership Final, which isn't bad.

The Falcons may have been underdogs against Saracens, but they won the backing of plenty neutrals left in the Stoop, and incredibly went 14-0 up through Alex Tait and Redford Pennycook.

Saracens hit back with James Short breaking through some slack defence before Ben Ransom went past Hodgson to equalise on half-time.

Marcus Watson gave Saracens the lead in the second half, converting his own try, but there was still plenty of time. I suddenly liked the final being ten minutes each way, rather than seven!

Roared on by a very small number of Geordies but more neutrals, the Falcons managed to regain a foothold in the game and when Tait chipped through time seemed to stand still. However Fielden outpaced the last defender to touch down, feeling some cramp in the process and missing the conversion.

More points needed please. Welch collected the kick-off, and Tait was put in for the try that put us back into the lead! By this point my nerves for one were almost shot, I feared to watch but could not turn away, willing the clock to go down. I hadn't been that tense since, well, Bath away in May!

Pilgrim's last-second score sealed the victory and I hope his mother has now calmed down, and wasn't too scared when I gave her a big hug!

I'm not sure what the JPMorgan lot thought about three loud and ecstatic Geordies invading their side of the stadium at full-time, but if they didn't want that then they should have presented the trophy on the other side of the pitch.

What a night! I'm pretty knackered now so think I might go for a kip (not much during the night). I'm not usually one for omens, but every team that has won this competition in the past has gone on to win the Premiership!