The game did not start well for the Falcons, in fact it started very badly. The first half was later described by Rob Andrew as the worst rugby the Falcons have played for a couple of months.

 

It is possible that the team had underestimated the Gunners, but a lot of emphasis had been placed on avoiding complacency in the run up to this game so that seems unlikely. More feasible seems to be the possibility that Edinburgh played an intelligent and disruptive game, knowing that the Falcons have a weakness under such circumstances, as was demonstrated so well during the first home game this season against Quins.

 

The referee Joel Jutge (France) did not help the situation. Edinburgh took control of the game from the outset, and the Falcons being on the back foot would be expected to concede more penalties than Edinburgh, but certainly not to the extent that virtually every penalty whistle (and he chirped like a canary) went in the favour of the visitors.

 

Walder kicked the start into Edinburgh territory and once they had possession they had no intention of giving it away under any circumstances. Driving mauls from the Scots were clearly not included in the pre-game Falcons list of things to expect. The Falcons defended poorly, the canny Scots seeing a weakness here used the driving maul as a major weapon. A penalty under such circumstances is never far away and Chris Paterson put the first points on the board after only 3 minutes.

 

The pressure continued into the Falcon’s territory from the restart and only a few more minutes were required for Brendan Laney to slot over a drop goal that could be seen being lined up an age beforehand. If the rules had allowed I could have calmly left my seat at the other end of the pitch, strolled down to where the action was, perhaps buying a coffee on the way, and I could have charged that one down.

 

Another restart and the same story. The Gunners had a nice little number worked out by now & had no problem pressuring into the Falcons territory, knowing that more points would come. A Falcons finger was seen playing the ball while the owner of the finger was anything but upright and the whistle blew again to allow Paterson to kick another penalty.

 

The score was 0-9 and no sign of anything but more floundering from the home team. All the fun of the pre-match Santa delivering the ball with his boots on fire had been forgotten, thoughts were turning to the Grim Reaper with a particularly nasty banana skin to deploy. The Falcons had hardly touched the ball and already the first quarter of the game was behind them.

 

Another restart from Walder but at last the Falcons secured possession and made a powerful surge into the right part of the pitch. The Edinburgh defence managed to regroup, progress became difficult and the ball was sent back to where Walder had lined up perfectly to put our first points on the board with a drop goal.

 

The Newcastle boys were by now waking up to a game that was going anything but to plan and were managing to make some possession count. At long last they were awarded their first penalty, nearly half an hour into the game, and Burke took the points to bring the score to 6-9.

 

The Falcons were still not exactly on fire but were managing to make territory. A clever combination from Walder & Mayerhofler made some good progress towards the Edinburgh line. The momentum stagnated with a series of rucks dragging the Edinburgh defence over to the left. Some quick passing to the right saw the ball passed to Burke, he was near the line & was the last man covered by the thinned Edinburgh defence, a pass to his right found Jamie Noon with clear space ahead of him to put the try down in the corner.

 

Burke converted clinically from the touchline to put the Falcons in the lead for the first time at 13-9.

 

 

The Scots had no intention of giving up and when awarded a 10 metre penalty they kicked into touch, obviously confident that they could still drive the home team backwards. They did and made it look too easy, Edinburgh captain Todd Blackadder being shoved over the line in another of their by now trademark driving mauls. Paterson converted and the half time whistle blew as the scoreboard ticked over to 13-16 for the visitors.

 

The Falcons changing room must have been a miserable place to be at the break, Rob is not known for his humour when games are going badly. His little pep talk included such gems as “if you want to go out of the Heineken Cup then just keep playing the way you are”. We will never know if this had any effect, or had the team just worked out for themselves that the game so far had not been the one they had practised for all week. Whatever the influence had been, the team that emerged for the second half was no longer going to be pushed around.

 

The possession & territory now looked more within the grasp of the Falcons. Another charge towards Edinburgh territory saw some desperate defending from the Scots at the half way line, too enthusiastic as it turned out as they conceded a penalty. Burke went for the points despite the distance and angle from the touchline with the ball bouncing off the post and crossbar without making it over.

 

The game was now moving at a faster pace. Tom May made a big break but was unsupported as he almost crossed the line, spilling the ball in the tackle so the gain was lost. A series of territorial kicks from Walder & Laney was reminiscent of Wimbledon for a couple of minutes until Edinburgh eventually made something from one of Laney’s efforts, Patersons charge for the line being brought to an abrupt halt by a superb tackle from Mayerhofler, a sight we have missed recently.

 

A bizarre series of events then raised the prospect of the game going totally pear shaped. Jutge was never going to win any prizes as a competent referee, but his control of the game now went completely. The ball was kicked to touch, I think by Walder. The TJ flagged the ball as it went over the line, an Edinburgh player picked up the ball as if nothing had happened and raced down the line. Players on both sides were more than a little bewildered but a tackle was made, the ball was spilled, and the Falcons were able to recover by taking the quick penalty for the knock on. I assume it was a quick penalty to give the benefit of the doubt, but I could swear that the ball was initially just picked up to be returned to where it originally went into touch. I think it was Dowse who collected the ball, it never went anywhere near his boot, and when he realised the ball was somehow still in play he just headed infield & off we went again.

 

Within a couple of minutes a brawl erupted as the Falcons charged across the half way line. Judtge appeared to be willing to listen to any story going so everybody and his dog joined in the fun & games. After an age during which some players may have told heart rending stories about their frail grandmothers, Andy Long & Allan Jacobson were sent for a 10 minute sit down. The penalty was strangely awarded to Edinburgh to the vocal disapproval of the crowd & Paterson kicked another 3 points to extend the Gunners’ lead to 13-19.

 

Maybe the Falcons now realised that the referee could just be ignored as irrelevant, maybe they now had a true measure of the Edinburgh guests, whatever it was, the Falcons would seal the game within the next 15 minutes. A couple of changes saw Grimes on for Gross, and Grindal on for Charlton.

 

From a Falcons driving maul, Mayerhofler broke into open space on the inside with Noon in support to make some ground. It was not long before an impressive Walder & May combination sent Tom over the line, Burke taking an easy conversion.

 

Mickey Ward seemed to be having more leg trouble, spending some time sat on the ground with the physio using all sorts of unguents and sprays to restore the offending limb. He was taken away to be mended in a more suitable environment & another welcome return appeared in the shape of Marius Hurter.

 

Only a couple of minutes later, McCarthy made a superb break forward. Again the Gunners were caught with their defence drawn to one side, the ball was passed quickly across to the left where Noon was able to receive the ball as the last defended man, close with the lone defender & pass to Stevo who had a clear run into the corner. Burke again converted but with more than 10 minutes left to play the game was far from safe at 27-19.

 

The Falcons kept the pressure at boiling point as they sensed that the Edinburgh stamina was ebbing. This time it was Burke who made the try look so easy through a gaping hole in the Edinburgh defence to claim the bonus point. Plonking the ball down near the posts ensured a conversion without drama.

 

The game was now pretty secure with a 15 point lead, just a concentration on solid defence against a plainly less fit Edinburgh side was required for the next 10 minutes or so. That anyway was the theory but the old gun would not be spiked so easily. Paterson managed to get dangerously close on two occasions & had to be rumbled into touch. Despite Walder clearing back down the field each time, the international strength of the Edinburgh side showed as they tested the Falcons defence right up to the last seconds of the game.

 

Their reward emerged from a maul near the home line in the shape of Mike Blair as the timekeeping clock swept over the end of the game. Paterson failed to convert but the extra 2 points would have been meaningless anyway, the try by Blair had made the point that this is a side that won’t be beaten without a fight.

 

The return match takes place on Saturday at Murrayfield. The Gunners will have a point of honour at stake, the Falcons will want to make a place in the quarter finals almost safe. A lot will be at stake next weekend, the Scots know they can take the wheels off the Falcons’ game, Rob & Ross will have some work to do if they intend to send the team up north with a better game plan than was displayed on Sunday.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon