Exiles swoop to conquer spirited Falcons

And so finally to the first home game of the season at the Mad Stad. Buoyed by the team’s fine win against the Saints and Ireland’s amazing victory over Australia the previous Saturday, supporters were in a good mood which was matched by the weather.

The Megastore and Supporters Club tent were doing brisk business too. With new-look matchday magazine purchased (not sure I like the square format) it was time to enter the stadium. The team announcements soon arrived, with warm applause for the returning James Hudson. Irish debutants were welcomed but the biggest cheer was reserved for Declan Danaher who was named at no 20 on the bench.

Irish kicked off playing towards the south stand and after some scrappy play Tom Homer stepped up to take the first penalty of the day from the half way line on 3 minutes. (3-0) The Falcons were quick to counter attack but the overall pattern of scrappy play seemed to dominate. Defence in the midfield for Irish seemed sound but then Falcons were awarded a kickable penalty after which there was an outbreak of “handbags”. Referee Rose spoke to both captains before Gopperth fired home the penalty to level the scores. The Irish restart was sound but a poor touch kick allowed the Falcons an attacking Lineout in front of the drummers in the east stand. Further loose play saw Irish penalised again for coming in at the side and Gopperth duly added 3 points on 10 min. Handling errors continued to dominate play until Irish were awarded a scrum near the 22 for a knock on. A solid scrum and excellent quick ball saw the ball fired down the line and taken at speed by Topsy Ojo over the whitewash despite a stumble en route. TH added the conversion so Irish were back in the lead at 10-6 on 16 min. The Falcons restart resulted in the unfortunate Matt Garvey being crudely taken out in the air by former favourite James Hudson: after lengthy treatment Falcons were reduced to 14 men.

A further penalty to Irish eased supporters’ nerves as the gap opened to 7 points (13-6) but the players seemed to switch off at this point, and the Falcons hit back, only to be let down by yet more handling errors. Shortly the margin was back to 4 points as Gopperth put over another penalty for not rolling away. By this stage the Irish scrum was looking really solid and dominant, resulting in 3 more points from the reliable boot of TH.(16-9) Next on the scoreboard was Gopperth and then on 30min another penalty for Homer on the half-way line which just crept over the bar.(19-12) My notes show that for the rest of the half Irish showed great attacking intent only to be let down by handling errors at crucial moments. With Falcons restored to 15 players and Gopperth on the park it made for a nervous final few minutes of the half, with Newcastle then on the front foot. Fortunately Mr Gopperth was off-target with his last shot at goal of the half.

Asked by my colleague in the South stand to sum up the first half (thanks Chris) I described it as decidedly scrappy and very average. Perhaps a government health warning was in order: “Supporting the team in green can seriously damage your health”! The half time entertainment left your correspondent bemused and confused in equal measure, featuring as it did a large wheelie bin and assorted folk trying to kick or pass rugby balls into it; then some kicking to the posts involving Digger. Bring back Cityjet and Dundee was all I could think!

On to the 2nd half and the visitors came out looking much brighter. A series of attacks looked to be contained and despite suspiciously forward-looking passes/crossing it was soon a penalty, rather than a try to Falcons: Gopperth was back on-target once more. The players then appeared to wake up and launch a series of drives only to be pulled up for a knock-on. The scrum then began to really assert itself and Falcons were penalised on their own put-in. TH added the next 3 points to restore the 7 point margin. More scrappy play followed but the Irish dominance in the front 5 was now clearly showing. A howler of a Falcons forward pass was missed by both ref and touch-judge, but then another scrum was stood up and Irish edged into a 10 point lead. To their credit the visitors attempted to hit back but when their passing went astray in the 22 JJ was on hand to sprint 60+m to the line for the team’s second try and TH’s conversion followed.

There then followed a raft of substitutions with the home crowd delighted to see the return of Declan onto the pitch. Another touchdown for Irish looked on the cards but the Falcons deliberately slowed the ball down within yards of the posts. No yellow card was issued but from the resulting 2 scrums the ref had little choice but to award the penalty try (or as Caimh announced: “and that try was scored by the entire London Irish pack”). A comfortable 24 point margin had now been established and with more than 10 min remaining on the clock the 4 try bonus point looked increasingly likely. The Falcons then turned down a kickable penalty, opting wisely to go for the corner. From the resulting phases of play the forwards eventually drove over for a try under the posts, with a few more “handbags” for good measure. The game was opening up and it took a fine defensive tackle from Paul Hodgson to prevent the Falcons breaking upfield once more. Irish pressure eventually told and a slick counter attack saw John Joseph scampering in for his second try. 46-22 would have made a good final score but the Falcons had the last word on the scoreboard with a late converted try. The crowd counted down the clock and then celebrated a fine 5 point win.

The matchday MoM award went to Tom Homer for his fine 10 out of 10 kicking, but the front row in particular deserve credit for setting up the win in the second half, after a nervous and error strewn first 40. The re-starts looked much improved and the quick ball down the line worked well. The team will encounter much stiffer challenges in the weeks ahead, but the players will be pleased with 11 points taken from the first 4 matches. For a squad supposedly in transition and introducing new faces, this was a most encouraging performance. Newcastle never gave up and received a warm round of applause at the end of the match. My personal thanks too go to the good folk in row CC block 21 (you know who you are) for keeping the scribe plied with Guinness and M+S munchies!