At 1.40pm our Falcons and London Irish kicked-off the first Cup quarter-final, and again we were quick out of the blocks with Ollie Phillips scoring, and then Fenby ran in easily from halfway. The young winger got his second by running through three defenders himself with men in support, Miller's conversion hitting the post, before Fielden broke, ran into an attacker, and diverted into a clear run to put us 26-0 up at half time.

Phillips and the superb Micky Young, who must be a real contender for the 9 shirt once the Premiership season starts, scored converted tries early in the second half and Irish's late score was no consolation for them in a 40-7 defeat.

An interesting development came about during this game, as the Harlequins fans in front of us turned out to be friends of our own Sam the Minx, who was not in fact at work but at Twickenham!

The Quins would be our semi-final opponents after beating Sale, and Gloucester would play the Army in the other tie as Worcester and Leicester were sent packing.

The first Plate semi-final pitted Northampton against Leeds, and the Saints quickly went 10-0 up before the Cardigans hit back for a 10-12 half-time lead. Two tries early in the second period looked to have sent Northampton through, but Leeds scored with three minutes left to make for a tense finish. However, the Midlanders scored the final try for a 25-17 victory, and Saracens beat Bristol in the other semi 31-12.

It was time for the Cup semi-finals, with the two best teams of the day so far Harlequins and the Army taking on our Falcons and Gloucester respectively. First up at 4.40pm was our match, but our performance was unrecognisable from the two previous. Fenby made a good run but was put into touch, and Ugo Monye opened the scoring by ambling through a weak defence into the right corner. An easy try on the left followed for a 12-0 Quins lead.

The Falcons got back into the game with Young steaming down the right and combining with Miller to send in Phillips, but a third Quins score gave them a 17-7 half-time advantage. After Harlequins extended their lead with a fourth try early in the second half, Riddell set up Fenby under the posts, leaving us eight points behind.

It was at this point that I realised that the Falcons had not kicked a single ball in open play in this tie, in contrast to an approach which had given returns in the first two games. And with us needing two tries in two minutes, we refused to take an outside line and kept coming inside to retain possession, even the lively Danny Williams not showing confidence in taking people on.

Quins, inspired by forceful former Falcon Epi Taione, went over for a further try, sealing a 29-14 win and their place in the final, and only a last-ditch tackle by Williams prevented further humiliation.

The Army won the other semi-final, and Saracens won the Plate competition, surviving a spirited fightback from Northampton in the second half.

In the final, Harlequins turned in a fast and powerful performance to destroy the Army 22-12 more comprehensively than the scoreline suggests.

Not too much to write about the last few games, as I was kind of deflated that the Falcons had been so poor against Harlequins after being so good in our first two ties, and just being knackered after four hours' sleep last night and an eight-hour day. I'm all for the knockout format and a Plate tournament (well done to the organisers for apparently listening to fans' feedback), and I'd have been miffed if the Falcons had lost to Northampton and not had another game to play.

But I'm not sure the Plate QFs were necessary – by the end of the third game I wasn't really bothered about them anymore.

Anyway, an exciting day generally, and further evidence that the real season is almost upon us. Hope everyone has a great time in Leeds today!

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• Seventh Heaven and Hell Part 1
• Phillip-in heck!

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

Newcastle Falcons Poll