In heavy driving rain London Wasps moved nearer to their dream of finishing
second in the Zurich Premiership by demolishing Newcastle Falcons who were
without England hero Jonny Wilkinson.
The weather and tube strike reduced the crowd to 3,444 for this vital fixture
at Loftus Road.
Fly-half Alex King opened the scoring in the eighth minute when he got to a
flying loose ball on the right which was converted by Kenny Logan.
And just outside the Falcons 22-metre area, Logan struck again with a powerful
penalty kick in the 16th minute taking the home side into a clear lead.
Piling on the pressure, centre Mark Denney notched up a further five points
with a try, converted by Logan.
When the pack tore down the left in the 31st minute, it was hooker Trevor
Leota who was credited with the try after some hesitation from referee Chris
Lander but Logan saw his conversion attempt go wide.
A breakaway from them all in the 37th minute left skipper Lawrence Dallaglio
with only a few steps to take to place the ball over the line, with the
conversion being made by Logan.
Letting Newcastle know the pressure was still on, Logan lobbed a thundering
penalty through the uprights in the 47th minute.
The much needed Falcons score came in the 56th minute when full-back Pete
Massey took the Wasps side by surprise to score a try with fly-half David Walder
converting.
The stadium erupted with delight in the 61st minute when Logan placed the ball
over - and then made his own conversion.
Tempers flared and in the 75th minute Newcastle Mike Howe was sin-binned for
fighting and in a separate incident seconds later Wasps Phil Greening was also
sin-binned.
But by that stage, Wasps' were clear and wrapped up the in injury time when
Harvey Biljon scored the final try.
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