The Exiles were playing some attractive, open rugby and were lying sixth in the Premiership table: Ian Peel talked the talk about forward play before the game, attributing the pack’s improvement during the season to “attitude in training”, “lots of players battling for selection” and the steadying influence of immense Kiwi tighthead, Carl Hayman.

Excitement abounded on Tyneside ahead of the arrival of the Irish as Tane Tu’ipulotu was handed his first team debut: the return to active duty of the injured trio of Davey Wilson, Ross Beattie and Geoff Parling also gave reason for optimism with Steve Bates’ pre-match comments reflecting the general mood on the terraces: “November is an absolutely vital month for us, and there is a huge emphasis on these next three Guinness Premiership games.”

Unfortunately, the Exiles were not coming north to play patsy with Bates’ charges and an impressive performance from the Irish pack in particular saw a three-try demolition of the Falcons who were seemingly unable to cope with the Reading boys’ aggression at the breakdown and linking play around the fringes. An early try from Brent Wilson set the tone but was not followed by action as the Exiles ran out 8-24 winners and the Falcons’ poor form continued, dumping them to tenth in the table and lifting Irish to third.

It was a morale-draining loss for the Falcons and one that got the captain, Phil Dowson, talking tough about the nature of the Irish defeat in the run-up to the next Premiership outing against Worcester at Sixways in late November: “The game plan was a good one, training was very positive but then we produced an 80 minutes of rugby which was as poor as I've seen in a good few years. Getting beaten by a better team when you've given your all is one thing, but when you don't even put up a challenge it's just unacceptable.” Could Dowson’s words be translated into a more convincing performance on the pitch?

The returning Geoff Parling also got verbal in the build-up to the clash at Sixways, expressing his delight to be back in contention after two months sidelined with a fractured cheekbone and eating soup. Talking about the “togetherness between the players”, Parling discussed the need to get some confidence back in the squad with a good performance against Worcester – despite the tough talk, it was another evening of diabolical form for the travelling support to watch; the Falcons going down 26-11 to a Worcester team bolstered by the inclusion of ex-Falcon Loki Crichton. Danny Williams managed to bag his first Premiership try late in the game but it was another case of ‘too little, too late’ for the Geordies as they continued their awful form in the league.

Underpinning all of this poor form on the park was the financial and managerial uncertainty surrounding the Falcons: months of speculation had seen various takeover attempts rumoured, moves to Darlington had been whispered about and there was a general malaise afflicting everything to do with the Falcons. Run-ins with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs did little to allay fears that the Falcons were in freefall and that there may well not be a club to support come the end of the season: Dave Thompson was forced into a decision to remain as owner of the club after talks about a prospective takeover eventually ended up in stalemate. Some argue that the price was too high; others argue that Thompson wanted too much say in how the club was run after takeover – what is certain is that Thompson bought out the vast majority of the shares in the club, reducing the 24%ers to a token 1% holding in order to make the club a more attractive prospect for potential buyers.

Thompson admitted to the behind-the-scene dealings “taking the edge off” the players and conceding that it had not been in the best interests of the squad for the wrangling to have been protracted across such a long period of time. Renewed focus was the key, and the visit of London Wasps for a Premiership clash at the end of the month gave the coaches and players chance to demonstrate that focus and determination.

Once more, words off the park were not reflected in actions on it, and the Falcons were lucky to escape with a losing bonus point after a torrid time at the hands of the Wycombe boys – Dave Walder’s missed last-gasp conversion gave the Northerners something to salvage from the game but otherwise it was a dour and dismal Friday night game at Kingston Park, Wasps heading home with a 17-23 victory in the bag: this loss dropped the Falcons to eleventh, Wasps leapfrogging them in the table and leaving Newcastle a mere three points above basement side Bristol. It was not a good omen at all.

Tom May managed a try, having been awarded a benefit year earlier in the week, and Danny Williams added to his burgeoning tally with another but it was just not enough to secure anything more than a solitary point for the Falcons.

The Falcons’ lack of discipline infuriated their increasingly under fire DoR, with Steve Bates lambasting the team’s “sloppiness” and addressing the squad’s penalty count as “diabolical”. Rhetoric or not, Bates was not happy and neither were the fans after watching their team descend to the realms of relegation and being steadily dragged into a scrap with Bristol for survival.

December began with sad news: the death of ex-Tynedale prop, Ali Johnson, was announced at the beginning of the season of goodwill, ending his four year battle with injuries sustained as a result of a collapsing scrum whilst playing for his club. On the day that arrangements for Ali’s funeral were announced, the Falcons travelled to Italy to take on Overmach Parma in an ECC encounter – tries from Williams and the much-maligned John Rudd saw the visitors come home on the back of a much-needed 14-20 victory. The reverse fixture the following week saw the game preceded by a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for Ali and his family and, fittingly, the Falcons ran out eventual 21-16 winners thanks to three tries from Micky Young, Rob Miller and Jamie Noon.

It was tale that was all too common: success in European competition could not be matched with victory in the domestic leagues – Newcastle’s visit to Welford Road (and the annual pilgrimage of the South Stand Choir to the home of the Pussycat Empire) was another disappointing affair for the travelling faithful, a single penalty from the boot of Steve Jones was the only thing preventing the Falcons being whitewashed by an impressive Leicester side. Geordan Murphy and the ex-All Black Aaron Mauger ran in tries in a 20-3 beating. More disturbingly, the absence of points put us only one point above Bristol in the table and seemingly in an irreversible decline that could only end in one place, National Division One.

Once more, in the post-match autopsy, Bates and Tait talked about ‘togetherness’ and discussed the need to build on the positives taken from recent matches. The trouble was that few supporters bought into the positives and struggled to see them, never mind use them as cause for optimism.

Christmas was not the happiest time in the Falcons camp and the imminent arrival of already-victorious Worcester at Kingston Park did not prompt much optimism from the hardcore support, apart from the return of Carl Hayman from injury.

Phil Dowson scored the solitary Falcons try and the Falcons were seemingly hanging on for a much-needed Premiership win, but a moment’s madness from the young Rory Clegg let Worcester in for a try which assured the visitors of a 16-16 draw at the final whistle. Clegg’s youthful naiveté in taking a quick lineout to himself which he subsequently failed to take gave Worcester an attacking scrum deep in the Falcons half and from this position, Worcester’s Pat Sanderson dived over the line to secure the draw.

2008 drew to a close, wounds were licked and fans and players alike looked forward to a new year of better performances and more consistent form both at home and away.

Inevitably, it was not to be the case: the January 3^rd trip to the Madejski Stadium, home of the Irish, saw an inept Falcons performance coupled to a superb display of attacking flowing excellence from the Exiles. Travelling supporters froze to death in the cold and windy concrete bowl of the Madejski as they watched a truly miserable capitulation from the Newcastle men; a seven-try murdering with only a consolation try from Tim Visser sent spirits plummeting and tempers fraying.

Even the usually-balanced Mark Smith commented on Micky Young’s “moment of stupidity” which led to his sin-binning on 56 minutes – this was not the straw that broke the camel’s back however, as Irish were well ahead at this point and the Falcons were looking well and truly out of it, with abject defence and looking clueless in attack.

It was to be one of three performances across the entire season that would be remembered as truly horrific experiences for the travelling support (Saracens in September and Harlequins in April being the others making up the trio of horror).

Thankfully, Bristol’s poor form continued and they failed to gain a single league point whilst we floundered, giving us a mere three point cushion over the men from the Mem.

Next: Now or never

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