Losing in the last minute against Leicester thanks to a nifty piece of astute scrum-half play from Julien Dupuy (coupled with some ‘eyes wide shut’ defence from Barf) in their HC quarter-final last weekend, Bath will be keen to put matters right by concentrating on their league form against a Falcons team also desperate to return to winning ways after crashing out of the ECC: last Sunday’s 32-13 drubbing by Saracens put Heineken Cup rugby almost out of reach for the Falcons for another year unless (by virtue of Cardiff beating Toulouse in their HC QF) they can struggle to seventh in the table and qualify through league position.

The Falcons were given a damn good spanking at The Wreck back in March, even though the Geordies matched the hosts in try count (three apiece) courtesy of Brent Wilson, Tim Visser and Andrew Fenby (his second in his first two full Premiership starts): poor discipline and the boot of Butch James saw the Bath Attendants run away 36-25 winners.

Bath make the journey north for ‘a tricky game against Newcastle’ (Rugby Club, Thursday evening) having beaten the Falcons in their previous eight meetings. However, Bath’s away form in the league has been Falcons-esque in recent weeks, with defeats at the hands of Gloucester, Saracens and Sale seeing the Spa Town boys dropping from their heady position at the top of the table.

In a bid to end the season on a winning note, the Falcons change three squad members from the lineup that faced Saracens in the ECC defeat a week ago:

Newcastle Falcons team to face Bath:

15 Alex Tait
14 Danny Williams
13 Jamie Noon
12 Tane Tu'ipulotu
11 Tim Visser
10 Tom May
9 Micky Young

1 David Wilson
2 Rob Vickers
3 Carl Hayman
4 Tim Swinson
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Phil Dowson (captain)
7 Brent Wilson
8 Adam Balding
Replacements:

16 Matt Thompson
17 Micky Ward
18 Geoff Parling
19 Russell Winter
20 Hall Charlton
21 Rob Miller
22 John Rudd

The now-expected rotation at hooker sees Rob Vickers don the starting mantle once more in favour of Matt Thompson with the lineout further rejigged through the introduction of Tim Swinson: Geoff Parling, making his final home appearance in a Falcons shirt, is demoted to the bench (hardly the swansong he would have hoped for) and the final change sees John Rudd dropped from his wing berth in favour of Tim Visser.

Phil Dowson marks his final home game wearing the captain’s armband, having confirmed earlier this week that he will be wearing a Saints shirt next season and he’ll no doubt be hoping to add to the try he bagged last week in the dying minutes of a dead game against the Watford Saffas. Dowse goes into this game at the top of the GP carries table with 190, and for anyone who saw his charge up the touchline to set up the position for his own try last week will appreciate that he’s a fairly impressive sight under full steam: a good signing for Northampton and one who’ll always get a warm welcome back at Kingston Park.

The midfield partnership of Noon and Tulip is currently going from strength to strength, with the latter coming out of the Saracens game as one of the better performances: Tulip offers canny running lines and the awareness of space plus the knack of getting the offload away once in contact to help break the gain line. He’s not a one-trick pony though, as his perfect crossfield kick for William’s try at Vicarage Road proved.

Also making his final home appearance as our erstwhile loosehead is big Davey Wilson, Bath-bound at the end of the season in the search for England honours: forming a beefy and unintimidated propping partnership with Carl Hayman at tighthead, Davey will be keen to go out on a high in front of the Kingston Park faithful and also make his impression on Steve Meehan and his coaching staff in preparation for a tough pre-season in the balmy climes of the West Country.

In the continued absence of Le Sicknote, Tom May slots into the flyhalf position once more in favour of the bench-warming Rob Miller (who has impressed enormously for England U21s this season) – the Falcons’ top points scoring machine, Tom will have to be on the top of his game as Bath’s attacking potency is fairly fearsome: Joe Maddock is the Premiership’s top try scorer (11 so far this season) and will be keen to rack up some more against a side currently occupying tenth in the table.

Bath Rugby team to face Newcastle Falcons:

15. Joe Maddock
14. Andrew Higgins
13. Tom Cheeseman
12. Shontayne Hape
11. Matt Banahan
10. Butch James
9. Michael Claassens

1. David Flatman
2. Lee Mears
3. Duncan Bell
4. Justin Harrison
5. Peter Short
6. Andy Beattie
7. Michael Lipman (c)
8. Stuart Hooper

Replacements:

16. Rob Hawkins
17. Paulica Ion
18. Jonny Faamatuainu
19. James Scaysbrook
20. Scott Bemand
21. Ryan Davis
22. Michael Stephenson

Butch James comes into this game under pressure from fans and pundits alike: he also tops the GP table of missed tackles, indicating that if the Falcons don’t send wave after wave of attacking phases through the 10 channel, we’re missing a trick. Cheeseman and Shunting Grape will provide stern defence in midfield for Tulip and Noon to contend with, whilst the Lomu-esque frame of Bananaman on the left wing will make for interesting skirmishes with Danny Williams, who admits that it’s usually the small, nippy wingers that give him the most problems: call me pessimistic, but I think 6’ 7” and 18st 1lb of flying winger could cause a few problems for Williams on the flanks this coming Sunday.

Flatman, Mears and Bell form the cornerstone of the historically-vaunted Bath pack although the loss of Matt Stevens has been a bit hit to absorb for the Bath squad. Austin Healey’s best mate, Justin ‘Plank’ Harrison forms the second row partnership with Peter ‘Not So’ Short and will enjoy a fierce battle for domination of the set piece: our lineout has functioned well for the majority of the season and our players currently occupy lofty positions in terms of lineouts to own player and top steals. Conversely, Bath are bottom of the lineouts lost table, with only 27 of their own throws going astray.

The back row looks full of threat, especially given the presence of the talismanic Lipman and ex-Leeds lock, Stuart Hooper (who was the cover boy for the programme when we made the trip to Headingley back in December 2005, trivia fans!). The bench is hardly short of potential either, with Jonny Fantastic occupying the splintery seats alongside Scaysbrook and the unassuming but dangerous Ion. Ex-Falcon, Michael Stephenson, is set to make an appearance at Kingston Park once more should Maddock not last the 80 minutes.

Discipline is going to be the key, as ever, in Sunday afternoon’s televised clash: points have been needlessly given away by the boys in black this season and we’ve racked up nine yellow cards over the season in contrast to Bath’s six (they have had Crockett red-carded however). Butch James can simply not be given free rein to push Bath into an insurmountable lead as happened last time we met at The Wreck.

So: here we are again, the last home game of the season. It’s been a disappointing one from most perspectives, with poor performances blighting the first four months of the season and a second-half turnaround seeing us put together a better string of more consistent performances. The boys have been playing to disappointing crowds at home (we’re stuck right at the bottom of total attendances in the GP this season, with only 60,145) and it’s our last chance to see the boys in action at home until August and the inevitable pre-season friendly against Darlington Mowden Park Third XV. It’s also our last chance to see Dowse, Crazylegs and Davey Wilson in black shirts and also the opportunity to say goodbye to players like Russell Winter and Joe McDonnell who have given their all for the club.

Turn up, make noise and roar the boys on to a final home victory. If you can’t be there, get yourselves online to listen to Kev and Smithy’s commentary and analysis (or use the steam-powered wireless) and listen to the last strains of ‘Blaydon Races’ at KP this season.

COME ON YOU FALCONS!!

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