Even before the game kicked off, Newcastle knew it would be tough, with Edinburgh seeking a win to lift them off the bottom of the pool. There was an extra factor, which meant the game would be tough – a French referee. Throughout the game, the referee was a shambles and he appeared to penalise Falcons for no apparent reason. He stopped the game from flowing and was oblivious to Edinburgh playing offside.

But, despite all of this, Falcons dug deep and were determined to find a hole in Edinburgh’s defence.

The hole in Edinburgh’s defence appeared in the 79^th minute, when Matt Burke’s clever chip ahead saw Stephenson catch and claim the ball to score in the corner. It was then up to Wilkinson to add the conversion. He slotted it between the posts with ease and this put the Falcon’s in the lead. The defence for injury time was up to scratch and they held off a powerful Edinburgh side and prevented them from retaliating.

In the first few moments of the first half, it looked promising for the Falcons as they made a couple of breaks through Colin Charvis and Craig Hamilton. Craig’s was close to Edinburgh’s line, however he lost the ball in contact and it went forward which resulted in an Edinburgh put in.

They were unable to clear their own half, however when Falcons were on the attack, Edinburgh were awarded a penalty due to Matt Burke holding on. Tom May also managed to break away, unfortunately this didn’t result in anything but a penalty to Edinburgh as Jamie Noon took the man out without the ball. 

During the remainder of first half, however the Falcons remained on the back foot, with Edinburgh taking the lead in the 21^st minute with a try from David Callam.

The Falcons were down to 14 men at this point as Marius Hurter was sin binned for constant pulling down of Edinburgh’s maul.

The restart from Walder was deep, and Edinburgh had a chance to clear their own half. Falcons had the lineout, however both Andy Long and Matt Thompson struggled to find their man in the lineout, and often lost the ball to the opposition who were glad to have it. It remains a mystery as to what happened with the lineout.

Walder sustained an injury to the head as a result of being taking out late. He managed to continue for the remainder of the half.

The only score the Falcons managed to get onto the board was that of a penalty as Edinburgh were holding on. Burke went for posts and put our first 3 points on the board. Burke had a couple more attempts towards the end of the first half that would have seen the Falcons take the lead, however he was unable to convert them. The score at half time was 7-3.

The second half was pretty much like the first half, with the lineout throwing going nowhere, and no running rugby being played. Jonny Wilkinson was the only substitute made at half time, coming on for Dave Walder. With Wilkinson on the pitch, it gave the Falcons a bit of a lift. However, Wilkinson’s passing decisions will be criticised, as there were a couple of occasions where he tried to pass long and found he had passed to the opposition.

After 6 minutes in the second half, Wilkinson pulled the Falcons closer to Edinburgh by slotting over a penalty, awarded to Falcons for Edinburgh not rolling away.

The lineout didn’t improve much, not even when Matt Thompson replaced hooker Andy Long. Matt’s first throw was not straight and this resulted in an Edinburgh put in. This lead to an Edinburgh attack, however the referee noticed that Edinburgh were holding on and awarded Falcons a penalty.

Wilkinson kicked it into touch, the lineout improved. Thompson made a good run into Edinburgh’s half, but when he offloaded the ball to Jamie Noon, he knocked it forward.

Edinburgh were awarded a penalty, as the Falcons appeared to knock on, this was only seen by the French referee. Phil Godman, ex Falcon, slotted the ball between the posts, despite all the booing from the travelling Falcon fans. The score was 10-6.

The Falcons spent most of the second half in Edinburgh’s territory. The Falcons were awarded a lineout, Thompson this time, was able to find his man.

Falcons pushed on a powerful drive and were close to the line. The ball was then recycled back to Wilkinson who put the clever chip over the top of Edinburgh’s defence. Stephenson was quickly under it; he caught the ball and scored in the corner. The result 10-13. Falcons held on in injury time and it paid off.

The Falcons deserved the victory, and once the Edinburgh players had left the field knowing they were still rooted to the bottom of the pool table, every single Falcon player came over and cheered the travelling fans.

We may have been out numbered, but we sure made more noise!

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