Man of the match
Brive blown away
Man of the match
By Leipziger
January 13 2007
As the posts swayed like Shakira at Kingston Park last night, the Falcons overcame a dogged Brive side to claim five vital European Challenge Cup points. Second place all but assured, now we are relying on other results to see us through to the quarter-finals.
Man of the match
January 13 2007
As the posts swayed like Shakira at Kingston Park last night, the Falcons overcame a dogged Brive side to claim five vital European Challenge Cup points. Second place all but assured, now we are relying on other results to see us through to the quarter-finals.
With John Rudd and Andy Buist dropping out of the first XV before kick-off, the too-often-overlooked Anthony Elliott and Mike McCarthy were called up to the team which included fit-again Matthew Burke as captain.
The Falcons struggled in the first ten minutes of the match with Brive’s strong forwards and creative backs dominating possession, whilst any attempt from us to clear was hampered by the wind hanging the ball in the air. Finally the breakthrough came and Petrisor Toderasc was driven over under the posts, Luciano Orquera converting the try.
The home side then began to make some territory, and Elliott had the best chance when he kicked a loose ball forward. The running game was the only one which was ever going to work in the conditions, yet inexplicably the Falcons were still attempting to kick too often when it rarely came off. However, the half time scoreline looked better at 5-7 when just before the break Brent Wilson scored from close range, although the conversion wasn’t hit with much effort and never threatened to go over.
With a renewed front row featuring Johnny Williams and Andy Long, the Falcons pack began to turn the screw on Brive, forcing the sin-binning of prop Pierre-Philippe Lafond for collapsing a maul and finally a penalty try which Matthew Burke easily converted to put us into the lead for the first time. Brive reduced the deficit however with a penalty after Anthony Elliott had been yellow-carded for a late tackle.
A delightful passing move involving several forwards produced the third try, Lee Dickson feeding off a ruck after man of the match Jason Oakes was tackled to drive over in the corner, Burke hitting a superb conversion. Brive were still dangerous though as ex-Gloucester legend Terry “Get yer tights off for the lads” Fanolua scored to keep the Falcons on their toes, with Maxime Petitjean converting.
Suddenly, it wasn’t just the bonus point but the whole win that was in jeopardy at 19-17, but on 70 minutes Mathew Tait’s break set up Loki Crichton, who had replaced Elliott, to complete the scoring for the crucial extra point.
Following the sin-binning of Johan Van Zyl, the game, as usually happens in such situations, seemingly died from the Falcons’ point of view as Brive camped on our line through a lot of injury time (8 minutes? after just one or two in the first half!), but eventually referee Peter Fitzgibbon decided to end the match and leave the Falcons four points behind Brive in Pool 3, with a slim chance of top spot but still everything to play for in terms of the best runners-up.
That’s for next week though, with some games still left this weekend it’s too difficult for me to work it all out. Thank heavens we have Mark for that donkey work.
The Falcons struggled in the first ten minutes of the match with Brive’s strong forwards and creative backs dominating possession, whilst any attempt from us to clear was hampered by the wind hanging the ball in the air. Finally the breakthrough came and Petrisor Toderasc was driven over under the posts, Luciano Orquera converting the try.
The home side then began to make some territory, and Elliott had the best chance when he kicked a loose ball forward. The running game was the only one which was ever going to work in the conditions, yet inexplicably the Falcons were still attempting to kick too often when it rarely came off. However, the half time scoreline looked better at 5-7 when just before the break Brent Wilson scored from close range, although the conversion wasn’t hit with much effort and never threatened to go over.
With a renewed front row featuring Johnny Williams and Andy Long, the Falcons pack began to turn the screw on Brive, forcing the sin-binning of prop Pierre-Philippe Lafond for collapsing a maul and finally a penalty try which Matthew Burke easily converted to put us into the lead for the first time. Brive reduced the deficit however with a penalty after Anthony Elliott had been yellow-carded for a late tackle.
A delightful passing move involving several forwards produced the third try, Lee Dickson feeding off a ruck after man of the match Jason Oakes was tackled to drive over in the corner, Burke hitting a superb conversion. Brive were still dangerous though as ex-Gloucester legend Terry “Get yer tights off for the lads” Fanolua scored to keep the Falcons on their toes, with Maxime Petitjean converting.
Suddenly, it wasn’t just the bonus point but the whole win that was in jeopardy at 19-17, but on 70 minutes Mathew Tait’s break set up Loki Crichton, who had replaced Elliott, to complete the scoring for the crucial extra point.
Following the sin-binning of Johan Van Zyl, the game, as usually happens in such situations, seemingly died from the Falcons’ point of view as Brive camped on our line through a lot of injury time (8 minutes? after just one or two in the first half!), but eventually referee Peter Fitzgibbon decided to end the match and leave the Falcons four points behind Brive in Pool 3, with a slim chance of top spot but still everything to play for in terms of the best runners-up.
That’s for next week though, with some games still left this weekend it’s too difficult for me to work it all out. Thank heavens we have Mark for that donkey work.
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