Ollie Phillips and a prolific Andrew Fenby led the way as the Falcons soared past Northampton and London Irish, however the last four encounter with the heavily-supported Londoners proved a challenge too far.

The Falcons were second on, after London Irish defeated a spirited Dragons side 28-19, and took on Premiership newcomers Northampton at 11am. Straight from the kick-off, the Falcons rucked aggressively and Luke Fielden just touched down a loose ball by the dead-ball line for their first score of the tournament, Rob Miller converting. Saints almost hit back straight away, while Phillips had a chance but his trademark chip didn't come off.

Fielden caught a loose pass and legged it through two defenders from halfway to double the lead, and Fenby could have extended the advantage before the half time but for a forward pass. We dominated the early stages of the second half and got the third try through Danny Williams, after the ball was moved right following a free-kick, and Miller's conversion put us well into the driving seat.

The Saints hit back with two late tries, and though Williams almost missed a late chance, the second score through an attacker outrunning replacement John Rudd mattered little and didn't deny us a 21-12 victory.

Harlequins then began their campaign with a 27-0 destruction of Leeds, Epi Taione beginning his Quins career in the aggressive way he ended his time at Kingston Park, and Sale won a competitive encounter with Ospreys. Gloucester and Worcester were the next clubs to join us in the quarter-finals with victories over Bath and Bristol respectively, the latter club scoring first and last in a 21-12 loss to the Warriors but unable to win.

The tie of the round was next up, Leicester and Wasps clashing with both, the Wycombe side in particular, having named strong squads. With the scores level at 7-7, the Tigers looked to have won with a chip and chase try, but Wasps hit a late equaliser to take the match to extra time. With the tie delicately poised at sudden death, it was Leicester who scored within just over a minute of the restart to go through to the last eight 19-14.

The Army was the final side through, surviving two mini-fightbacks by Saracens in the final first round match.

In the Plate quarter-finals, Northampton, Leeds, Bristol and Saracens had little trouble overall in reaching the semis of the lesser tournament, before the Falcons returned to the pitch to take on London Irish...

Part 2 to come

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