I assume we won the toss, as we played towards the North in the first half and the opening ten minutes seemed to indicate we were in for a cagey afternoon. The first scrum and Hayward against Aguero on our side seemed a battle to look forward to; honours on the first scrum to the Italian. But the referee seemed to be the risk to Sarries. I would have thought we would have the advantage here, with Ongaro to do a Dayglo; but Newcastle seemed to be playing his idiosyncrasies better and they certainly had the first of the penalties, May slotting over on 9 minutes.

Sarries were winning the kicking battle, as Goode could run back anything short and nearly broke through a Newcastle defence that were suspect on the follow-up. Concentrating on a fast player grabbing hold of the catcher seemed to be their tactic; Goode was slithering away from him into space and started to look classy. Barrit and Jackson were combining well to make holes in midfield and it seemed only a question of time. A stroke of luck when Barrit seemed to hang on went the other way and Glen equalised.

But it was up front that Sarries were making inroads; Jack and Throbwick were stealing the Falcons ball as well as winning our own and in the scrums, Census and Aguero were turning the screw. Another penalty gave Glen a chance for the lead; unlike Bath he seemed to have the right boots on and we took the lead. Soon after another penalty was pushed into the corner and that line-out move with the double rolling maul seemed to be close. Sarries recovered the ball and after a couple of forward nudges, Census dived over. Glen added the extras  13-3.

Then the contention; Sarries seemed in control now and attacked again. Glen put through a pretty rubbish chip, but it bounced up nicely for Brad Barrit and he seemed to gather before diving in under the posts. Now I thought initially he had dropped it and others around me thought the same, but the referee was close by and gave it. Glen added the simples 2 points he will get all year for 20-3.  Sarries were rampant now, and it only seemed a question of time that we would get another score before half-time; it was to be, but a drop goal;

23-3 and the game seemed won. 

The tag-rugby in the interval was excellent and more Guinness went down well; even Sarries could not lose it from here. I must say that the first half-performance from Sarries has to rank with the best of the season; especially since a full strength Newcastle side on a run were no pushovers. My sons tell me I have to mention the touch-judges; with their Italian poses and yellow kit along with the bent-arm indications when the ball went into touch had them sniggering all game

Almost from the kick-off Sarries turned over the ball and Glen was wide from a drop-goal attempt. I could see the point of that – we needed to be 3 converted tries clear. Newcastle were struggling with being so far behind; they could not take the points, only tries were good enough. Then next ten minutes summed this up. Sarries defence was rock solid, and the looked likely to turn the ball over at the line-out, so Newcastle played up the middle. They did well to win 3 kickable penalties, but each time took the scrum but could not score.

Eventually Sarries won possession and moved the ball downfield, Wyles running out of his 22 with great skill; finally passing to Penney who almost broke through the last of the Newcastle defence – here comes Bath again we thought – he was bundled over inside the other 22. When Sarries won a penalty shortly afterwards, Glen simply extended the lead 26-3. Not to be disheartened, Newcastle kept coming back, but a great defensive performance did not look like being broken.

Exit Ches stage-right; on 47 minutes he was replaced by Tom Ryder. Some in the crowd thought this may well be a final home appearance and dutifully a small ovation rang out. His little wave seemed tinged with something; I hope that’s not the last time I see him.  

Newcastle were plugging away in the north-east corner with Williams on his own on the far side of the pitch. We could see what was going to happen, but no shouts were going to reach Wyles behind the post. It wasn’t until Newcastle won a penalty that they too saw it, the cross-kick almost bouncing out into touch. Williams collected well and scored, but too close to the corner for May to add the extras.  

Jack collected the kick-off as he has done a couple of times this season and set up a great position. Frankly Sarries were in complete control at this point; the defence was solid, we seemed to be able to nick their line-out whenever we wanted to and every time we got the ball ran it at Newcastle with purpose and a deal of skill. There were a number of unlucky knock-ons, but two more penalties around the 22. Glen pragmatically took the 3 points each time, with no need for a bonus point – just certainty of a win. Andy Farrell almost broke through the centre for a classic try with five minutes to go, but was pulled down five yards short

With what was the last play of the game, a good break by Tu’ipuloto, who was easily the most dangerous attacker for Newcastle, put in Dowson for a consolation score, which was converted to make the final score 32-13 with a semi-final at Franklins Gardens to extend Sarries season by at least one more week.

Does Bourgoin’s win against Irish mean a potential final in France if we can win our fifth away game of the season; I prefer to think we are unbeaten away in cup competitions.

Saracens: Goode, Wyles, Powell, Barritt, Penney, Jackson, de Kock; Aguero, Ongaro, Johnston, Borthwick, Chesney, Jack, Seymour, Skirving.
Replacements: Cato for Wyles (70), A. Farrell for Barritt (60), Wilson for de Kock (69), Cairns for Ongaro (49), Visagie for Johnston (56), Barrell for Borthwick (71), Ryder for Chesney (48).

Newcastle: Tait, D. Williams, Noon, Tu'ipulotu, Rudd, May, Young; D. Wilson, Thompson, Hayman, Parling, Sorenson, Dowson, B. Wilson, Balding.
Replacements: Visser for D. Williams (66), Miller for Rudd (71), Charlton for Young (60), Ward for D. Wilson (60), Vickers for Thompson (54), Swinson for Parling (54), Winter for B. Wilson (63).

Att: 7,711

Ref: Carlo Damasco (Italy)             

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