London wasps knew there could be no more slip ups as they took the field at Kingston Park. Newcastle's fine victory over Leicester on Sunday must have sharpened the Wasps players' focus. Both teams had to shuffle their squads while some players had to accelerate their recovery from the brutal weekend games. And all because a howling gale at the top end of the Beaufort scale had partly dismantled a stand and demolished a set of posts in February.

The Geordies opened the scoring with a penalty goal. Wasps drew level and began to take control when Haskell drove over from close quarters for an unconverted try. Falcons responded when Tom May overlapped to equalise.

Wasps' pack tightened the screw once more as captain elect, John Hart, broke into the opponents' 22 and Tom Rees was on hand to round off the move. Danny Cipriani converted, but Newcastle made the best of some lax cover work by chipping the onrushing defence and Ollie Phillips rounded off the scoring for the first half.

The BBC Radio Newcastle commentary team were waxing lyrically about Cipriani and sidekick Dom Waldouck as they looked forward to the resumption. It makes a refreshing change to the one-eyed, arrant nonsense from certain BBC local radio rugby hacks.

The second half belonged to the defences but only Wasps could trouble the scorer. When an attack was snuffed out in our 22, Eoin Reddan countered in a trice and Cipriani deftly put in Paul Sackey from 75 metres out.

The teams dogged it out during the traditional late flurry of replacements as the game lost its shape. One final period of intense pressure saw Josh Lewsey grasp the opportunity to speed in from 10 metres, securing the all important five point victory.

At one stage there were over 125 punters looking in here on DW.com. 15 years ago Wasps might have struggled to get such a crowd for a midweek "friendly" game at Sudbury. And Newcastle claimed a gate of  10,200 tonight (by dint of selling out the original fixture). How times change, eh?

So, Wasps can breathe a little more easily - the playoffs are beckoning - and we are also breathing right down Bath's or Gloucester's necks, should one of them falter nervously at the death on Saturday.

A delicious touch of schadenfreude might see Gloucester top the table, with Wasps finishing up second, and both eventually meeting in the GP Grand Finale on a hot Saturday in May. Alternatively a potential cold, damp, squibulous Bath would be a fitting dénoument.

But let's not tempt fate. There is a lot of football to be played before May is out. Wasps must win, and win well at Headingley, and also trust that one of the top two falls from grace. Sale, Harlequins and Leicester all have designs on spoiling the top three's ambitions too.

Even if Wasps just fail to finish second, five away wins on the trot will give Gloucester and Bath plenty of food for thought in the play-offs!

Schadenfreude will just have to wait, though...roll on Leeds Carnegie, and Lawrence Dallaglio's last ever Guinness Premiership league game this Saturday. Of all Wasps, perhaps only he could have scripted such a convoluted plot!

Tykes one and all should attend to bear witness, in spite of their démise en scène.

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