Newcastle inflicted a second heavy defeat on Rotherham within a week to book a
place in the quarter-finals of the Powergen Cup.
The Falcons, who crushed the Yorkshire side 56-10 in the Zurich Premiership
last Sunday, reaffirmed their superiority by running in six tries as they eased
into the last eight.
And as in the league encounter, it was the superior flair and pace of the
Newcastle backs which proved too much for the struggling home side.
Back row Epi Taione set the Falcons on their way when he touched down in the
corner on five minutes after a break and feed by wing Michael Stephenson.
A penalty by Jason Strange cut the deficit to two points but the rest of the
half was one-way traffic towards the Rotherham posts as the Newcastle back
division cut loose.
Tom May - hat-trick hero of the week before - won a race to a grubber kick by
Jamie Noon and fly-half Dave Walder added the conversion for 12-3.
Stephenson went in under the posts for a converted effort that stretched the
lead to 16 points on the half-hour as the tie began to slip away from the
Titans.
Newcastle - superior all over the field - maintained their stranglehold after
the break when full-back Ben Gollings grabbed their fourth try from another
searing break by Stephenson.
Rotherham enjoyed a 15-minute purple patch and thought they had scored a try
through wing Jason Keyter, only for the effort to be ruled out for crossing.
But that scare stung Newcastle back into action on 67 minutes when flanker
Phil Dowson burrowed over the line next to the posts and Walder converted to
make it 31-3.
Rotherham at last bagged a consolation when replacement prop Nick Lloyd
touched down from a quick tap penalty by Strange, who also landed the conversion
to nudge the hosts into double figures.
Normal service was resumed when Stephenson waltzed in for his second try after
a good drive by the pack.
Despite a brave finish from the home side, they had left themselves too much
to do and are now left to concentrate on the tough task of trying to climb off
the foot of the Premiership.
Newcastle, in contrast, can look forward to a push for league and cup honours
and the imminent return of the inspirational Jonny Wilkinson from World Cup
duty.
Teams:
Rotherham: Stortoni, Keyter, Pritchard, Jones, Strettle,
Strange, Raulini, Bunting, Johnson, Rawson, Pendlebury, Gross,
Greeff, Spence, Remnant, Lloyd.
Replacements: Benson for Strettle (49), Lloyd for Bunting (59),
Noon for Rawson (49), Kenworthy for Pendlebury (49),
Earnshaw for Remnant (49), Smyth for Lloyd (74).
Not Used: Rhodes.
Tries: Lloyd.
Cons: Strange.
Pens: Strange.
Newcastle: Gollings, May, Noon, Mayerhofler, Stephenson,
Walder, Charlton, Peel, Thompson, Ward, Archer, Hamilton,
Taione, Dowson, Vyvyan.
Replacements: Grindal for Mayerhofler (65),
M. Shaw for Charlton (61), Wilson for Peel (56),
Makin for Thompson (65), Dunbar for Hamilton (70),
Grimes for Taione (56).
Not Used: Godman.
Tries: Taione, May, Stephenson 2, Gollings, Dowson.
Cons: Walder 4.
Att: 1,000
Ref: Martin Fox (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook