By Leipziger
September 12 2005

Even after their 1-point win tonight, the home fans in Northampton still weren’t ecstatic. Every Falcon knew why, because after we beat them in April 2003 we felt exactly the same. One small battle had been won in the relegation war.

First things first - I am on the train now, unlike after Saracens I went to an impromptu pub with TracyWilko and some home fans AND made the train. Secondly - and worse - I discovered we all have a long way still to go before Mark H is 100% converted to the Falcons cause. And so the whole evening was - good tempered by those happenings less positive.

News that Wor Jonny Wilkinson would start on the bench filtered through the bar and sweetened our pre-match pints, but bad news followed when it was announced that David Walder would replace the injured Matt Burke at full-back. Quirk of the otherwise fantastic Franklin’s Gardens stadium - they announced this change and our bench, but not the starting XV!

Anyway, come 7.45 myself, Mark H and a couple of other Saints and Falcons settled in the Gordon Terrace for what would become a superb game. In the first 5-10 minutes we took the game to the hosts, a Tom May run being our best chance, but Northampton were first on the scoresheet with two Shane Drahm penalties, the first from 50 metres after he’d missed earlier closer in. Walder also missed a kick, but cue Leipy’s short trip to the bar and he hears that Walder has pulled three points back, and returns to see Local Hero lining up another, duly kicked to level the scores at 6-6.

May and Michael Stephenson then combined to take another attack near the Saints’ line, but unfortunately Stephenson was injured in the tackle, and stretchered off after a few minutes. Taken immediately to hospital, it was confirmed he has sustained a broken leg and one wonders whether we will see him in a black shirt again.

But in place of Stephenson came Jonny Wilkinson from the bench, back from his latest injury and going straight to fly-half, his brother Mark moving to centre and Jamie Noon to the wing. Against the run of play, Jonny kicked our third penalty to ease us ahead 9-6 just before half time. But as so often happens when we kick ourselves ahead, it was to prove short lived as Northampton came back at us and to be honest as soon as they entered our 22 I felt they would score. A cross field kick wrong-footed May and centre Chris Hyndman was able to jump over to regain the lead for the home side, with Drahm adding the extra two points.

Half time? Nope, further punishment followed as every England fan’s favourite player Corne Krige stole the ball from our scrum to score Northampton’s second try, which Drahm again converted. We managed to pull another penalty back, to leave the scoreline at the break 20-12.

After the interval we brought on Micky Ward and Andy Long for David Wilson and Matt Thompson, and the improvement was dramatic. Whilst not dominating Northampton completely, we did our fair share of attacking with Jonny now settled into the fly-half role, and Noon cut through some weak Northampton defence to score an excellent try, which Jonny converted to put us in with a real chance. Our defence was standing firm under ground and aerial attack, and when Jonny scored his third penalty (maybe not given for an offside tackle, but it was the only offence I saw myself - Mark Smith offers more explanation) to inch the boys back ahead 22-20.

Drahm kicked Northampton back into the lead, and fought like a team battling for their lives, indeed many of their side may have been playing for their careers. A drop goal attempt from Walder and a short penalty from Wilkinson Junior failed to convert our chances, and after 5 minutes of injury time, referee Tony Spreadbury blew for full time and the whole of Northampton breathed a huge sigh of relief - Mark’s second team (!) have given themselves a great chance of staying in the Premiership.

But, as I said, few Northampton fans seemed totally ecstatic because they know they still have to win at Worcester to be sure of their survival. As for us, the optimists and realists know we were never going to be relegated and tonight’s bonus point all but confirms that. What we need now is firstly to secure a Wildcard place against London Irish in two weeks and then win it because - optimist or not, and our excellent European performance notwithstanding - unless we qualify for the Heineken Cup again this Falcon will personally see 2004/05 as a failure.

But for now we can reflect on a good performance tonight, in a game we could very well have won. It was our best game away from home in 2005 without a doubt, better than Harlequins and a million miles from the debacles at Saracens and Leicester. Walder, probably with the help of his successful kicks, looked to have the confidence that made him a top player, whilst both Wilkinsons played well at fly-half. Our lineout worked well (superbly by our standards!) as we started out with simple throws, but then used the confidence gained from this to win more complicated plays. Colin Charvis, in his first game as Falcons captain, spoiled Northampton’s attack excellently and was the foundation of our attacking performance, and for me was our man of the match.

And so another season approaches its end, with but one match against London Irish still to come at Kingston Park. We still have to play to win and get the best possible Wildcard draw, but I repeat that once we are in that tournament we MUST win it!