Newcastle moved into the semi-finals of the Powergen Cup with a superb
defensive display against London Irish at Kingston Park on Saturday.
The London side were due to fly in to Newcastle airport on Saturday morning but found
their flight postponed when they arrived at the airport and had to fly to
Edinburgh from where they drove down by coach arriving just half an hour before
kick-off.
They asked for a delay in the kick off but were refused because of BBC
television scheduling - the match was live - and it was not the best preparation
for a cup-tie.
The Falcons made a huge effort to get the game on clearing several inches of
snow off the covered pitch starting at 7am and they were rewarded with a
perfectly-playable surface.
Two probing kicks from David Walder saw Newcastle make early inroads and they
came close to driving over from a line-out but had to settle for the penalty
from Walder after five minutes to make it 3-0.
Hugh Vyvyan was caught pushing at the tail of a line-out even though it looked
very much a case of obstruction on the Newcastle No.8 and Mark Mapletoft
levelled the scores with the 10th minute penalty.
Both sides were way offside at the rucks. Referee Tony Spreadbury seemed happy
enough to allow it to become a messy scrap before deciding enough was enough and
penalising London Irish just inside their own half for Walder to make it 6-3 in
the 14th minute.
Mapletoft levelled the scores in the 21st minute with penalty and on the half
hour, Newcastle cracked the Irish defence with a concerted attack down the left
and Warren Britz came on to Hall Charlton's pass at real pace and then found
Stuart Grimes on his shoulder for a great try which Walder converted for 13-6.
There was a long stoppage afterwards with hooker Matt Thompson needing
treatment for what looked like a shoulder injury and he was replaced by Nick
Makin.
Once again, Spreadbury's eccentric style of refereeing led to a mystifying
penalty in the 39th minute which Mapletoft squeezed over for 13-9 but then
Taione charged through and Tom May was dragged down 15 metres out and Makin and
Garath Archer made a determined charge which ended with Kieron Dawson sin-binned
for preventing release and Walder kicked the penalty in the 42nd minute for a
16-9 half-time lead.
Newcastle got just the start they needed in the second half with the ball
being shovelled out to Taione who shrugged off Ryan Strudwick and pushed Paul
Sackey aside before giving the ball to Walder on the outside for a try in the
45th minute to extend the Falcons lead to 21-9.
But then Archer was sin-binned for the second successive week, this time for
stamping in the 50th minute and Mapletoft kicked the penalty for 21-12 - it was
not what Newcastle wanted as Irish were restored to 15 men with the return of
Dawson.
However, Newcastle survived the 10 minutes down to 14 men and looked the
better side as they mounted a big attack down the left with Charlton, Dowson and
Makin driving right up the line. After two inconclusive scrums and a drive into
midfield by Dowson set up the ruck Walder dropped a 66th minute drop goal to
make it 24-12.
Teams:
Newcastle: Lilley, May, Noon, Mayerhofler, Taione, Walder,
Charlton, Peel, Thompson, Hurter, Archer, Grimes, Dunbar,
Britz, Vyvyan.
Replacements: J. Shaw for Lilley (52), Makin for Thompson (33),
Ward for Hurter (33), Hamilton for Archer (61),
Dowson for Dunbar (61).
Not Used: Grindal, Stephenson.
Tries: Grimes, Walder.
Cons: Walder.
Pens: Walder 3.
Drop Goals: Walder.
London Irish: Horak, Sackey, Appleford, Hoadley, Armitage,
Mapletoft, Edwards, Hatley, Drotske, Wheatley, Strudwick,
Casey, Danaher, Dawson, Sheasby.
Replacements: Everitt for Mapletoft (51),
Barrett for Edwards (73), Hardwick for Wheatley (72),
Gustard for Dawson (67), Murphy for Sheasby (67).
Not Used: Flavin, Kennedy.
Pens: Mapletoft 4.
Att: 4,280
Ref: Tony Spreadbury (RFU).
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