Almost from the Falcons' kick off a penalty was gifted to Saints following a scrum 15 metres out. Grayson slotting the penalty home. The crowd anticipating a good game saw Jonny Wilkinson put three points on the board for Falcons to even the score. Surely the tension was eased, Falcons would win some ball and let our backs run it.
What the crowd did not expect was the scrappy play from Newcastle Falcons that gifted Saints two tries, both scored by Dawson. At this stage in the game Falcons were not winning ball even from our restarts. It was all too easy for Saints.
With Saints up 13 points to 6 Falcons began to pressurise Northampton and were rewarded with Tom May going over in the corner. Mr Lander called 'no try' and awarded Falcons a penalty in front of the posts. Wilkinson collected the points. 9 - 13. 35 minutes played.
Jonny Wilkinson demonstrated what was required from our forwards by shrugging off several tackles on a tremendous ground making charge of twenty metres. The resulting panic from Saints saw another three points go on the scoreboard for Falcons. 12 - 13.
Once again your correspondent noted that Newcastle were allowing Saints too much ball, the inevitable try followed, and was converted by Grayson. 12 - 20 in Northampton Saints' favour.
The welcome, warming hot drink during half time was accompanied by the Tag rugby competition. Both West Hartlepool and Gosforth put on a better display than either side in the 'main attraction'! The tag result was a well-deserved four points all draw.
The start of the second half soon provided us with an indication that this was going to be better than the first half when Grayson's attempt at a drop goal was charged down by Hugh Vyvyan.
Falcons' backs were beginning to receive more ball from the forwards, although it did appear to go from side to side of Kingston Park for an eternity. Saints were eventually penalised by Mr Lander and Darren Fox was sent to the sin bin. Undeterred, Northampton camped in our half of the field. Twice we held the ball of the floor to prevent Saints scoring more tries - a sterling defensive performance from Newcastle Falcons in front of the south stands.
Falcons were running the ball more now, while a buzz of anticipation spread around the ground at the sight of the long absent David Walder warming up.
Northampton Saints then played the man who didn’t have possession of the ball, giving a penalty to Falcons. Jonny converconverted taking the score to 15 - 20. We were closing the gap.
Walder replaced Shaw to tumultuous applause from the Kingston Park crowd. A long Walder clearance from defence led to some sloppy handling from Falcons, however the ball was retained and Vyvyan crossed for the try. Wilkinson delightfully struck the kick from 5 metres in from touch for the conversion. Falcons 22 Saints 20.
The drama continued right to the end as Grayson's long distance penalty attempt in the last minutes struck the crossbar and bounced back into play. The South Stand must have been willing that one to miss. The power of prayer, people near me could not watch Grayson's kick.
Uncharacteristically we saw two knock forwards from Northampton Saints' Thompson that gave Falcons the breathing space to clear their lines. A collective sigh of relief went round the ground as Jonny Wilkinson kicked for touch. Game over.
Final Score: Newcastle Falcons 22- Northampton Saints 20
The Great Escape was played over the public address system as the Falcons' players came onto the field to applaud the supporters. Thanks Lads, but do we have to do it the hard way?
Man of the Match... Hugh Vyvyan.
Newcastle Falcons
1 Ian Peel (Blood bin: Ward), 2 Nick Makin, 3 Marius Hurter, 4 Craig Hamilton, 5 Stuart Grimes, 6 Craig Newby, 7 Andy Mower, 8 Hugh Vyvyan, 9 James Grindal (replaced by Charlton), 10 Jonny Wilkinson (captain), 11 Michael Stephenson, 12 Mark Mayerhofler, 13 Jamie Noon, 14 Tom May, 15 Joe Shaw (replaced by Walder)
Replacements
16 Liam Botham, 17 Dave Walder, 18 Hall Charlton, 19 Warren Britz, 20 Jon Dunbar, 21 Micky Ward, 22 Matt Thompson.
Northampton Saints
1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Robbie Morris (replaced by Stewart), 4 Matt Lord, 5 Mark Connors (replaced by Hunter), 6 Darren Fox (replaced by Seely), 7 Budge Pountney (captain), 8 Andrew Blowers, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Paul Grayson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mark Tucker, 13 Peter Jorgensen, 14 Oriol Ripol, 15 Nick Beal
Replacements
16 Matt Miles, 17 Matt Stewart, 18 Rob Hunter, 19 Grant Seely, 20 James Brooks, 21 Bruce Reihana, 22 Johnny Howard.
Officials
Referee: Steve Lander Touch Judges: Robin Goodliffe & John Pearson
Points Scorers
Newcastle Falcons:
Hugh Vyvyan (1 try)
Jonny Wilkinson (1 conversion, 5 penalties)
Northampton Saints:
Matt Dawson (2 tries)
Matt Lord (1 try)
Paul Grayson (1 conversion, 1 penalty)
Match Preview: "Oh when the Saints come marching up..."
Photographs copyright & courtesy of Pod.
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