Jamie Noon was a late withdrawal for the Falcons, and in a re-jigged backline Rob Miller started at fly-half with Tom May and Tane Tu'ipulotu moving back a spot each in the midfield, presumably as practice for next season. Russell Winter, David Wilson, Phil Dowson and May started their final games for Newcastle, with another departee Geoff Parling on the bench.

Looking for a bonus point from the off to secure a home playoff, Quins ran or kicked to the corner with all of their penalties and it was from a tap that the home forwards' enthusiasm drove Nick Easter for the opening try, and Waisea Luveniyali easily converted.

Easter also scored the second, battling through a couple of defenders and stretching to touch down. There was a potential forward pass in the build-up, but there were still plenty of chances to defend and a weak tackle on Jordan Turner-Hall allowed the centre to set up Easter, and just minutes after the conversion Tani Fuga found space for the third.

The inevitable result of some awful tackling by the Falcons came just before the half hour when Danny Care set up Mike Brown for the bonus point score, giving Quins a 26-0 lead. It could have been worse after Matt Thompson's bullet throw was dropped near our line, but the hooker redeemed himself by clearing up the loose ball.

Danny Williams set off on a run from the 22, with most Quins behind him, but to howls from the away fans, the referee awarded us a scrum, failing to notice the clear advantage.

After Micky Young went close Parling, a first-half replacement for Adam Balding, scored our opening points and May converted, but just before half-time Ugo Monye raced over on the left to complete the first half scoring (well, apart from Luveniyali's extras).

The second half saw the Falcons have more of the game than in the first 40 as Quins seemed content with their five-point haul, but defences were on top and the our efforts continued to be hampered by giving away penalties.

Williams had a couple of good runs at the Quins defence, while Alex Tait also looked dangerous at times, but the hosts also looked to have scored on the left before being pulled back for a forward pass. One run from Tait saw him bundled into touch on halfway, and replacement Steve Jones was sent to the bin for obstructing a quick throw.

The half descended into the away fans goading the hosts (“We have more fun than you”), but also offering a bit of self-humour (“We've got less points than you”).

We finally had something else to cheer when Hall Charlton chipped and outpaced a defender to touch down before the ball went dead. The conversion missed but at least “We've won the second half”, despite losing 31-12 overall.

There were emotional scenes at the final whistle as a number of Falcons said goodbye to supporters, and good luck to them at their new clubs.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to worry about next season. After our run of seven wins out of eight earlier in 2009, we are now back to the form of the first half of the season, with four losses in a row in which our best half of rugby was the second 40 at Wasps. When we scored six points and still lost.

Today we never looked like winning, yes Quins were hungry for the home playoff but we should still have been looking for the win and a good performance.

We have signed three players that look decent, but are losing more than that who we know to be good. Much more is needed if we are to truly get back on the rails, as if we aren't derailed now, we're certainly close.

Over to you Mr Thompson.

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