Falcons pay the penalty

Newcastle Falcons looked on the verge of giving their fans an early Christmas present in London yesterday when they finished a dominant first half 3-7 up on Harlequins.

However, poor discipline and a drop in intensity after the break allowed Quins to not only win the match 15-7, but also left the Falcons with no reward from a highly-encouraging first forty minutes.

Driven by the enterprise of Tom Catterick, Adam Powell and Will Welch, the power of Alex Tuilagi and Rob Vickers, and the pace of Sinoti Sinoti and Simon Hammersley, the visitors had enough opportunities to put the match beyond the hosts long before Tuilagi's maiden Falcons try put them into the lead just before half-time.

Better handling by Tuilagi and a calmer head from Calum Green, who dived in offside when Vickers was tackled inches from the tryline, would have seen the Falcons claim a first league win at the Stoop since 2000, against a depleted Quins side who only really had one sniff of a try all day.

That came in the first half when George Lowe missed a three-on-one overlap thirty yards out, and came inside. Other than that, the Geordies marshalled a dangerous home back three of Mike Brown, Marland Yarde and Aseli Tikoirotuma well, denying them a view of the tryline.

In the second however, the strong home defence managed to keep the Falcons further upfield and the game was played mainly between the 22s. Tim Sweil had a perfect day with the boot and punished the Falcons' ill-discipline with four kicks in a thirteen-minute period to save his team's blushes and give Quins the points.

The Falcons tried to get back into the game but their momentum had gone and they were unable to get even a losing bonus point. Newcastle now move on to a Christmas home game against Saracens, who will not be as sluggish as Harlequins in punishing them for not taking their chances.

Player ratings: Hammersley 7 (Cato 7), Sinoti 6, Powell 8, Socino 6, Al Tuilagi 7, Catterick 7 (An Tuilagi 6), Blair 7 (Tipuna 6), Vickers 8 (Fry 6), McGuigan 8 (Lawson 6), S Wilson 7, Green 6, Barrow 6 (Thompson 6), M Wilson 7, Welch 7, Hogg 6.