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From the Falcons Website
Connacht 16 Newcastle Falcons 13

Newcastle's European ambitions got stuck in the Irish mud on Friday night, as an injury-time penalty from Connacht fly half Andy Dunne consigned the Falcons to another defeat on the road.

While John Fletcher's side may take crumbs of comfort from the fact that they will get the chance for revenge against the same opposition on December 16 at Kingston Park, the Falcons now know that they are one defeat away from almost certain elimination from the competition.

On a windy night in Western Ireland it was the boot that dominated proceedings – Falcons fly half Jonny Wilkinson kicking a perfect three from three, while two penalties, a conversion and a drop goal for opposite number Dunne were enough for the victory as both sides managed just one try each in a bruising and full-blooded encounter.

With the Atlantic gust favouring the white-clad Falcons in the first half, there were promising early signs as Mathew Tait counter-attacked from his own try line and Wilkinson drilled home a penalty from 40 metres for the early lead on ten minutes.

Connacht lock Michael Swift had a try ruled out for a clear obstruction at a close range ruck, while the Falcons too were dealt a blow as skipper Phil Dowson left the field with suspected medial knee ligament damage after just quarter of an hour.

Wilkinson utilised the breeze at his back on a heavy pitch with a 50-metre grubber to claim a territorial gain, and midway through the half the visitors got the try that their early endeavour had merited.

While right wing Tom May was the man to touch down in the right corner, it was opposite wide man John Rudd who set the stage with a barnstorming line break to penetrate the heart of the Connacht midfield. With ruck ball set up on the 22 and the visitors retreating, a deft grubber kick from Toby Flood laid the try on a plate for the onrushing May, who collected the bouncing ball just over the try line to dot down in the corner.

Wilkinson then defied the wind with a sublime touchline conversion in almost impossible kicking conditions to take the lead to ten.

With Dunne missing his second shot at goal from long range Connacht kept themselves in contention as fullback Gavin Duffy countered well, and on the half hour they finally got themselves on the scoreboard as scrum half Conor O'Loughlin embarked on a weaving right to left run to wriggle over the try line.

Dunne added the extras from wide out on the left to narrow the gap to three, and momentum swung even more the way of the hosts in the final throes of the first half as Newcastle hooker Andy Long was dispatched to the sin bin for coming in at the wrong side of the ruck on his own 22.

While a staunch Newcastle defence managed to keep Connacht the correct side of the try line with some gutsy tackling before half time, the start of the second half saw Connacht come in to their own with the breeze at their back.

Utilising the conditions better than their visitors had in the opening 40, the men in green set about a ruthless half of rugby with their pack to the fore, ex-Falcon Mike McCarthy ploughing a furrow down the left wing with a leg-pumping run to make vital inroads.

It was Newcastle, however, who registered the first points of the half, Wilkinson again showing his world class kicking credentials with a near-impossible penalty attempt 40 metres out and against the wind from the left touchline.

The England man made it look easy as he mastered the swirl to bisect the uprights, in a game where his defensive work rate bordered on the phenomenal with a barrage of big hits.

Dunne narrowed the gap back to three just after the hour mark after a controversial call from French referee Eric Maciello, who pinged Jamie Noon for a high shot in midfield, and it could have been more but for some heroic defence from the Falcons as Wilkinson smashed a crash ball runner on his own line to force a vital turnover.

With Newcastle camped in their own 22 and fighting the elements, the scores were levelled on 77 minutes as Dunne slotted in to the pocket from slow ball to send over a well-taken drop goal, setting up a nailbiting finale.

In the end it was to be more away-day heartbreak for the Falcons courtesy of Dunne's injury-time penalty from 15 metres out, just left of the posts, as persistent Connacht pressure forced the visitors to infringe.

A just result in the end given their intense pressure for the whole of the second half, but the Falcons will be out for revenge next Sunday as the Irishmen visit Kingston Park for what is now a decisive rematch.

Connacht:

Tries: O'Loughlin
Cons: Dunne
Pens: Dunne 2
Drop goals: Dunne

Newcastle Falcons:

Tries: May
Cons: Wilkinson
Pens: Wilkinson 2

Connacht:

15 Gavin Duffy
14 Aidan Wynne
13 Darren Yapp (Matt Mostyn, 48)
12 Mel Deane
11 Ofisa Treviranus
10 Andy Dunne
9 Conor O'Loughlin (Conor McPhillips, 66)

1 Brett Wilkinson
2 Adrian Flavin (John Fogarty, 48)
3 Robbie Morris
4 Michael Swift (David Gannon, 59)
5 Andrew Farley (captain)
6 Mike McCarthy (Ray Ofisa, 59)
7 Johnny O'Connor
8 John Muldoon

Newcastle Falcons:

15 Mathew Tait
14 Tom May
13 Jamie Noon
12 Toby Flood
11 John Rudd
10 Jonny Wilkinson
9 Hall Charlton (Lee Dickson, 57)

1 Joe McDonnell Micky Ward, 60)
2 Andy Long (Matt Thompson, 66)
3 Carl Hayman
4 Geoff Parling (Sean Tomes, 70)
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Brent Wilson
7 Ben Woods
8 Phil Dowson (captain, Russell Winter, 14)

Referee: Eric Maciello (France)
Attendance: 4,500

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From Irish Indo:
Connacht ground Falcons' stars

A star-studded Newcastle Falcons side was brought crashing down to earth by a fired-up Connacht side who got their European Challenge Cup campaign right back on track at the Sportsground.

All-Black prop Carl Hayman made his first start for the Falcons but their pack was on the back foot for long periods which starved Jonny Wilkinson and his English international colleagues Jamie Noon and Toby Flood of quality possession on which to build a platform.

Instead, it was the Connacht pack who dominated for most of the game with John Muldoon leading the way along with prop Brett Wilkinson and locks Michael Swift and Andrew Farley.

In the end victory was secured when Andy Dunne kept his nerve to steer a penalty in the second minute of stoppage time between the posts to secure a superb victory for Connacht at the Sportsground.

Connacht did it the hard way, giving the Falcons a 10-0 advantage in the opening quarter before coming storming back.

Wilkinson edged them in front with a 10th minute penalty and then converted Tom May's try after 23 minutes from the right touchline after a John Rudd break had carved the defence, before a grubber from Toby Flood sent May over.

But that was the height of the Falcons domination and it was Connacht who set the pace of the game from there with scrum-half Conor O'Loughlin causing untold grief to his unsuspecting visitors.

Appropriately, it was O'Loughlin who hauled his side back into contention when he somehow darted his way over ten minutes from time for a great try.

Dunne landed the difficult conversion into the wind to make it 10-7 at the break with Connacht unable to capitalise on the sinbinning of Falcons hooker Andy Long for persistent fouling.

Dunne reduced the deficit to 13-10 after 63 minutes with a 35 metre penalty and levelled the game with a drop goal two minutes from the end of normal time after a superb break from replacement scrum-half Conor McPhillips had initiated the move.

Connacht did not rest there and displayed great control and discipline to get back into the red zone and, inevitably, force the penalty which Dunne took to win the game.

Connacht head to Newcastle next week with a great chance of making the knockout stages of the European Challenge Cup.

Connacht -- G Duffy; A Wynne, D Yapp, M Deane. O Treviranus; A Dunne, C O'Loughlin; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Morris; M Swift, A Farley; M McCarthy, J O'Connor, J. Muldoon. Replacements: M Mostyn for D Yapp (49); J Fogarty for B Wilkinson (49) D Gannon for M Swift (59); R Ofisa for M McCarthy (59); C McPhillips for O'Loughlin (67).

Newcastle Falcons -- M Tait; T May, J Noon, T Flood, J Rudd; J Wilkinson, H Charlton; J McDonnell , A Long, C Hayman, G Parling, M Sorensen, B Wilson, B Woods, P Dowson. Replacements: R Winter for P Dowson (16); L Dickson for H Charlton (58); M Ward for J McDonnell (62); M Thompson for A Long (67); S Tomes for G Parling (71).

Ref -- F Maciello (France).

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The Evening Chronicle
Connacht 16, Newcastle Falcons 13
Dec 8 2007 by Nick Purewal, Evening Chronicle

THERE were no dogs in sight at Galway Greyhound Stadium last night – at least not until the turgid fare they call rugby had long finished in any case.

The punters had to wait until Newcastle Falcons’ season had been ripped in two for the lithe beasts to chase the hare around the track.

And after failing to turn a 10-point lead into a European Challenge Cup victory in west Ireland, Newcastle’s silverware chase looks almost out of reach for another season.

John Fletcher and his men can stop their season well and truly going to the dogs if they beat Connacht convincingly in the return fixture next week.

But to do that they will have to improve out of sight from this ramshackle offering, which at times resembled a sham rather than a brutally physical contact sport.

Fletcher will tell you himself his side deserved nothing from this, so poor were they on the night.

And to be so bad despite Jonny Wilkinson’s phenomenal tackling, kicking and work-rate, and rare shining light John Rudd’s immense physical prowess and freight-train running, is something of an effort.

Not the driving rain of the night before, but that torrent produced a peat bog pitch.

Howling wind was certainly on show though, and Newcastle did not take advantage when they had it at their back.

It was up front that they ceded this contest, once again being cowed by more effective scrappers.

These last three matches have shown that however much ball you win, if it is slower than slow, it is basically not worth having.

You might as well give the opposition the pill and let them come at you, crossing your fingers you will force a counter attack.

A three-point lead at the turnaround did not look a good enough par considering the wind factor.

But the Falcons could be pleased with their siege mentality, especially after Andy Long was sin-binned for a ludicrous offside.

Strolling round the ruck to pick the ball from the Connacht scrum-half’s feet, it was a massive moment of madness from the former Bath hooker.

Like the waves lashing into Galway Bay, so Connacht came again and again at the Falcons.

But this time the visitors stood strong – just – and kept their three-point advantage.

Earlier they had been unable to hang on when the forward assault reached its peak, and scrum-half Conor O’Loughlin came up trumps, and last, with the ball to cut in two what was at that point a 10-0 Newcastle lead. Newcastle just did not capitalise on their early good work, capped by Tom May’s try.

The winger nipped in to touch down Toby Flood’s clever grubber that turned the defence after John Rudd had smashed a huge chasm through the midfield.

Jonny Wilkinson nailed the touchline conversion, and Newcastle looked ready to strut into their prime.

With Rudd causing all sorts of problems, Flood and Wilkinson prodding and probing and Tait holding his own in the still-unfamiliar waters of full-back, this should have been the time for the Falcons to kick on.

Not so, as the home side had other ideas.

After the break, more of the same, and two Andy Dunne penalties and a drop-goal were all it took to turn the tide.

Newcastle’s season sits precariously on a knife-edge – whether they fall on their own sword though, is completely down to themselves.