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The first few moments of the match were testing, as Newcastle Falcons were giving away penalties for silly mistakes. The first penalty of the match was awarded to Leeds - the Falcons were penalised for handling in the ruck. Gordon Ross, decided to attempt goal, but missed. In the seventh minute, Falcons were allowed into the Leeds' half but didn't stay there for too long. Tykes were awarded a free kick due to Newcastle having too many men in the lineout.

Newcastle Falcons seemed to find confidence and came close to the Leeds line in the 16th minute through Archer, who fell short of the line. Leeds stole the ball and kicked to touch, 10 metres from the line. Thompson threw in and was able to hit the man.

New Signing Lilley Shines

After 19 minutes, Falcons were awarded their first penalty due to a Leeds man being off side. Mark Wilkinson kicked into corner. After the lineout throw, Newcastle were then awarded another penalty which new signing Daryl Lilley decided to put between posts. He was successful in doing this and he scored the first points for the Falcons on his debut. 3 - 0 to Newcastle.

After the restart, the Falcons were awarded another penalty. Jamie Noon decided to take it quickly, however he was pulled back due to Leeds not being ten. Mark Wilkinson decided to kick for corner, putting Falcons closer to the Leeds line. The lineout throw was successful and Thompson found his man. From this, Hugh Vyvyan was able to make a break through the Leeds defence, Joe Shaw and Daryl Lilley combining well before offloading the ball to Mark Mayerhofler who scored in the left hand corner. Lilley was unable to convert the try. Newcastle Falcons led 8 - 0.

Leeds Tykes restarted play and were soon awarded a penalty as Hugh Vyvyan was penalised for allegedly using his knee. Gordon Ross went for posts and scored three points taking the score to 8-3.

Wilkinson restarted and his kick went deep into the Leeds' twenty-two. The Falcons set up a rolling maul. The ball was passed out to Wilkinson who offloaded to Joe Shaw and he in turn offloaded to Daryl Lilley who was able to score underneath the posts. He converted his try leaving the score at 15-3.

Leeds were awarded a penalty straight after restart (although I am unsure as to what the reason Mr Rowden gave the penalty for). Craig Hamilton was able to steal the lineout throw although when he was offloading it, he knocked on which resulted in Leeds scrum.

In the 35th minute the Falcons were able to strike again-this time through Tom May. The Falcons were awarded a scrum and the ball came out to Tom May who was able to run over the line in the right hand corner. The kick was far out on the twenty-two and Daryl was unable to convert. Newcastle Falcons 20 - Leeds Tykes 3.

The restart went deep and it resulted in a ruck. The ball was turned over and was given to Jamie Noon to clear. His clearance was charged down and this resulted in Leeds scoring a try underneath the posts through Alan Dickens. On the stroke of half time Gordon Ross added the conversion making the score 20 - 10.

In the second half, the Falcons were given a penalty, which Wilkinson kicked into touch. The lineout resulted in the Falcons, yet again, coming close to the Leeds try line, but again coming up short. This time, Craig Hamilton passed the ball to Ian Peel who unfortunately couldn't handle the ball and knocked it on with his knee. This was a critical turning point in the match, Rob Andrew believing that if that ball had not been lost then the match would have been won.

The ball returned back into the Falcons half and Leeds came close to scoring, but Jamie Noon tackled Phil Christophers. The ball was then recycled to Matt Salter who broke through Falcon defence and scored. Gordon Ross was unable to convert the try and the score was 20-15.

After the restart, Jon Dunbar knocked on from the lineout and the Falcons were penalised and sent a further ten metres back. Gordon Ross decided to go for posts and converted the penalty.

Substitutions

Falcons were given a lineout opportunity, but their call wasn’t simple and they lost the ball. Ten minutes in the second half, Daryl Lilley and Warren Britz were substituted for Dave Walder and Epi Taione. Substituting Lilley would prove to be costly for the Falcons later on in game. The Falcons were awarded a penalty, however Leeds weren’t concentrating and were sent a further ten metres in their own half. Wilkinson kicked the ball deep into the Leeds twenty-two. Thompson stuck to a simple lineout strategy and was able to pass the ball out to the backs. Jamie Noon was high tackled but Mr Ashley Rowden didn't notice this and said it was a normal tackle.

The ball was turned over and Leeds kicked into Falcons half. Joe Shaw managed to retrieve the ball, however he panicked when clearing and sliced the kick.

18 minutes in the second half, Leeds managed to leak through Falcons defence and scored again through Dan Scarbrough. Joe Shaw, Mark Wilkinson and Dave Walder all missed the tackle on Dan, that tackle could have been vital in stopping Tykes scoring. Ross was able to add conversion. Score 20 - 25.

Tykes Pack Substitutions

Matt Holt and Phil Murphy replaced Gary Powell and Stuart Hooper for Leeds. Falcons were penalised for holding on (apparently) and it meant Leeds were able to get back into Falcons half. The Falcons defence held up and meant Leeds weren’t able to score this time. A few moments later, Leeds were awarded another penalty from Mr Rowden and Ross kicked it into corner for a lineout. The lineout was pushed into touch and resulted in the lineout been given to us. A penalty was then awarded to us, and the lineout appeared to be still in our half. Wilkinson messed up a kick in their half and it resulted in the Falcons been driven back into their own half. With Newcastle ending up back in their own half, it was time for Gordon Ross to put on his kicking boots and replicated Wilkinson’s drop goal. The score went to 20 - 28 in 29th minute.

It was time for Rob to make another change; Nick Makin replaced Matt Thompson. Falcons awarded another penalty and Wilkinson kicked into touch. Nick Makin's first throw in went successful and he was able to hit his man. From the successful lineout, Jamie Noon was able to score a try, yet Walder was unable to convert.

From the restart, Wilkinson was unable to kick into touch in Leeds half and they were able to run it back into Falcons half. Epi was able to begin making a break when he was tapped tackled and knocked into touch.

The chances had gone and a couple minutes later when Rowden gave a penalty against Falcons from the scrum and Leeds simply kicked it into the stands knowing they had won the game.

Final Score: Newcastle Falcons 25 - Leeds Tykes 28

Falcons seemed to be climbing a mountain on Sunday, with the thought of a first league match win of 2004, however in the second half it all slipped away from their grasps and they lost a game which they should have wrapped up and won in the first half.

Rob Andrew seemed disappointed in the performance of Sunday’s game:

"It is very frustrating, in some ways it sums up our season, we are capable of playing decent rugby."

In the changing rooms after the game the mood was sombre, Rob described the players "hugely disappointed" and agreed that the lack of key players did not help.

Player Updates

Rob was able to give updates on certain players currently out injured: "Mark Andrews had knee operation on Friday so he is out for 4-6 weeks. Michael Stephenson is hopefully back next week within the squad."

Introducing Daryl Lilley

Daryl Lilley is settling in to the habit of playing rugby, even just stepping off the plane over a week ago, "I am quite happy with today, good to get out and have a run around. I am looking forward to next game".

The conversions which were out on the twenty-two were hard for Lilley this week. "I haven’t had a lot of practice, hadn’t kicked for three months!"

Matt Thompson summed up the way he felt with the game “We lost”. Those words are simple and direct to the point, something needs to be done in order for the Falcons to win matches if they want to be in the Heineken Cup next season.

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Editor's Note: Team list & scorers to be added to report later today!

Many thanks to Ashleigh for her match report if anyone else would like to write a match report then please let me know!

My email is: Mally - tykefalcon@hotmail.com

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