John Fletcher fielded pretty much his strongest side, with only the rotated positions to be disputed and Geoff Parling on the bench. Isn’t it great that we don’t have to give our best English players to Shaton so soon until next season?

No, not really. My personal opinion of yesterday’s game is that it wasn’t very good. From a neutral’s point of view. From the point of view of all of us with a black heart, it was simply [insert expletive here].

Leicester’s first try was a classic Falcons concession, former Gosforth flanker Martin Corry taking the ball in the 22 and powering through tackles. We sang “Corry is a Geordie”, and spirits were still high, further buoyed by Jonny Wilkinson kicking a quick penalty from a scrum.

I’m not normally someone who will pick a man of the match for the opposition, but if Tom Croft is in the England squad he must be some player because I thought Jordan Crane was outstanding at 8 yesterday for Leicester. Indeed it was the former Tyke who smashed over on the right for his side’s second try.

The try saw Crane with a two-on-one with John Rudd, from the stand I thought Rudd could have taken Crane and tried to force him to pass forward to the supporting Tiger. I don’t blame Rhino though, I had a better view of the pitch than him, and referee Sean Davey was probably too far away to be sure he could see a forward pass.

Andy Goode kicked the conversion, and the Falcons managed to put together a decent move after a Wilkinson penalty, passing towards the left before dropping and Leicester hoofed forward to touch,

I would love to write more about the first half, but Leicester decided that the dreadfully poor Falcons team were a big danger, and kept kicking almost every penalty they had. We were in danger when Spud threw a loose pass to a green attacker, but fortunately Leicester were restricted to two first half tries.

Unfortunately, Goode’s boot left us 27-6 down at the break with four penalties and a drop goal. Fortunately, around this time Slacker decided that a trip to the bar for a full round was in order, and we now have a new song to sing: “Slacker is a hero”.

The Falcons in the Crumbie, numbering RnR, the Doctor, Slacker, Mrs Slacker and BigMac amongst others I haven’t met before, gave the Leicester crowd heck for the full 80. It’s just a shame the second half on the pitch proved even worse than the first.

Leicester dominated almost totally in the second half, although we were first on the scoreboard with Toby Flood going over on the left right in front of the vocally-charged away fans. 44 minutes gone, and we could’ve already started singing “There’s only one F in fourteen” as that was all we would get.

Almost immediately after Noah’s try, Johne Murphy scored and Goode’s conversion took Leicester further into the lead, and Marcos Ayerza’s bonus-point score completed the day’s work for the scorers.

With the game being scrappy overall, the Falcons did little to threaten Leicester in the second half bar a minute or so’s attack just after the hour. The introduction of Tim Visser, Ollie Phillips and some forward replacements did little to change things.

Since I don’t want to dwell on things, at this point I’d like to thank my fellow Falcons for helping make a big noise in the Crumble Terrace. Saracens at home is next, after that we take on the Shed in Gloucester. Get yourself down there and help cheer on our lads.

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The Falcons in the Crumbie, numbering RnR, the Doctor, Slacker, Mrs Slacker and BigMac amongst others I haven’t met before, gave the Leicester crowd heck for the full 80. It’s just a shame the second half on the pitch proved even worse than the first.

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