NEWCASTLE FALCONS vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

GP Week 2 – 14/09/08. 3pm

KINGSTON PARK

MATCH REPORT

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

The good news was that Saints dominated the first half, could have scored more points, but had a healthy lead and looked as though they could move away in the second half.

The bad news was that Saints could not translate the pressure into points and there was the nagging feeling that the Falcons could make them pay.

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Leaving home at 7.30 and arriving home at 10.30 is a long day. When you see the results of two bad accidents and too many examples of poor driving it makes you wonder about Sunday driving. When we got to Newcastle they had re-arranged local parking for the first time we had seen. We were directed to a local school and it worked well.

Not for the first time, either, we found the Falcons fans to be very friendly and welcoming. Not many of them though. Surely the lowest GP attendance we have seen. And shock horror the weather was warm and balmy. Nay, tropical even.

And so to the game. We did not play particularly badly but after this first defeat Jim and Nobby have experienced in the league at Saints, they will have learned a lot about the team. The back five forwards battled but could not dominate. The backs had plenty of ball but you were never sure it was good or quick enough. Carlos was conventional and disciplined and kept trying to open gaps with his passing. The backs could not get behind the Falcons team at all and we became increasingly frustrated at our inability to score tries. The front row battle looked to be key and the Falcons outlasted our starting players. We never won sustained battles in the tight and relied on occasional sorties.

Of the players Monty had a stormer but Flash never got decent ball. One tackle he made on John Rudd was memorable the way he waited for him to catch a high ball and then tackled with great timing. JC went off with a knee injury but hopefully that will not be serious. Ben looked dangerous when he came on but it was noticeable how Bruce’s positional sense as a full back was excellent. We probably missed JC quite a bit as more attacks seemed to come through our central channels after he went off.

The difference between the teams was Johnny Wilkinson. He did not miss a kick although we swear one conversion did not go through the posts. But his control, passing, tackling and timing were superb. The best performance against us that we have seen. He was magnificent in the second half. With him fit the Falcons did not look relegation material to me.

The game and the result was a bit of a wake-up call. Can we afford to miss so many kicks, why did we not manage to get a bonus point, why did we give Johnny so many penalty attempts, why did we not control the Falcons second half salvo, why were we as imprecise as last week, why could we not build pressure through multiple phases?

For the stattos here is the timeline:

2 minutes         Missed penalty by Bruce

Shortly after Tiny was pinged for going up in the scrum and looked to be a telling tussle.

We had a good backs move and only a poor pass prevented a try.

10 minutes       Play mainly in the Falcons half and a notable factor was the amount of passes Bruce was making

11 minutes       Penalty to Falcons after their first pressure. 3 – 0 from a Johnny kick

15 minutes       Penalty for Saints. Not binding at scrum. 3 – 3 from a Bruce kick

18 minutes       Penalty for Saints. In at the side. 3 – 6 from a Carlos kick off the crossbar while Bruce had treatment

20 minutes       Penalty in front of posts to Falcons off our ball. 6 – 6 from Johnny

22 minutes       Cross kick from Carlos not quite taken by Monty

25 minutes       A great tackle by Flash on Ruddy where he lined him up from 15 metres and drew a penalty. Penalty missed

30 minutes       Rudd flaps a cross kick into touch near the 5 metre line a gives away a penalty. 6 – 9 up from a Bruce kick

                        It was all Saints at this time but a lack of precision and no sustained phases meant territorial advantage was not being used

35 minutes       Great faint and pass by Dylan and brilliant ball flicked between his legs to a supporting player by Nacho

38 minutes       Penalty on half way converted by Bruce. 6 – 12

40 minutes       Another kicking contest. Saints doing better and Tait looking shaky

42 minutes       Rudd drives Dylan back 10 metres in another Saints attack

44 minutes       Another penalty in front of posts but Dylan takes quick tap but nothing comes of it

47 minutes       Penalty missed by Bruce

Half time          6 – 12 up

1 minute          We concede penalty from our kick-off.

3 minutes         Falcons look stirred and have early sustained pressure. Saints repulse them to half way but Johnny wins kicking battle for the first time and Falcons steal saints throw

8 minutes         Johnny holds three Saints players to pass wide and create overlap for Buist to score a try on the right. Johnny converts. Lee Dickson down and not for the last time. 13 - 12

16 minutes       Saints looking increasingly scrappy under pressure and Euan carded for holding Johnny back. Penalty inevitably scored. 16 – 12

                        JC had been down twice and is now replaced by Ben at full back. Bruce to centre. Barry soon on for Scott

18 minutes       Great break by Ben stopped by Phillips tackle

19 minutes       Penalty at ruck converted by Bruce. 16 – 15

23 minutes       Tam on for Tiny

24 minutes       Falcons have the impetus and from pressure in our 5 metre zone free the ball on the right once more for Phillips to score second try for Falcons. Converted to leave score at 23 – 15

26 minutes       Almost immediately Monty squeezes through the middle and scores individual try. Converted to leave score at 23 – 22

27 minutes       Scott back on

30 minutes       Johnny scores from penalty conceded in front of the posts by Saints. 26 – 22

32 minutes       Another great Monty attack stopped by Phillips at expense of a yellow card.

35 minutes       Saints attack breaks down again. Saints get a 22 kick off but concede penalty. Scored by Johnny. 29 – 22

                        Lee Dickson down again but not for long. Attendance given as 4602 spectators

40 minutes       Saints attacks look increasingly scrappy and desperate and lose ball

44 minutes       Saints lose ball in own half and leads to a Johnny drop goal. 32 – 22

45 minutes       Saints last attack ends in a knock-on

                        Referee blows whistles to end a disappointing second half and game.

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