A decent start and rampant finish couldn’t hide a diabolical defensive performance which saw the Exiles return to Reading as deserved winners of this European semi-final (“semi? Could’ve fooled me” remarked one prominent supporter).

Newcastle coach Rob Andrew brought Jamie Noon back into the side for the injured Mark Mayerhofler, and David Walder was at fly-half for Toby Flood.  In the forwards, the only change was at openside where Ben Woods replaced Cory Harris.  Irish had up to eight players out with injury, and were captained by former England back Mike Catt.

Newcastle started as the better team, and Matthew Burke kicked the first penalty when the touch judge on the East side flagged at an Irish maul.  The Exiles then demonstrated their innovation by kicking long to the right and taking a catch in our 22, before kicking back left out of play.  Burke had a chance to increase the lead after ten minutes, but his penalty went wide of the near post.

Tom May then attempted a kick and chase but his ball went dead, and Irish attacked from catching a Walder kick, and a fantastic move was finished off by Robbie Russell.  Riki Flutey converted the score, and soon added a penalty to increase our arrears.  The referee, Nigel Owens, made his presence felt by giving Irish a scrum for a forward pass despite Ben Woods being taken out before making the previous ruck, though eventually we won a penalty but nothing came of the resulting lineout.

Just after the half hour Irish scored their second try.  There was crossing in the build-up, but we cannot blame the referee for the fact that Topsy Ojo went through four terrible ‘tackles’ before crossing the line.  Flutey failed to convert, and before half time the woeful Walder and Andy Long, who conversely had been one of our better forwards, were replaced with Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Thompson.

We could have had two (or one at least, because if we’d scored the first the second would not have happened) tries at the back end of the first half, as Burke and Tait set May away but he failed to storm over the line, rather trying to come inside and walking straight into a tackle.  We regained possession in the middle and won a penalty, but Tait dropped the ball when tapping a penalty, and the visitors went in at half time with a deserved 3-15 lead.

The second half didn’t get any better, as Irish battered our line in the first ten minutes before we finally broke with a penalty, and Anthony Elliott (who apart from the again-game-changing Wilkinson, was probably our best back) made a run deep into Irish territory and won a penalty.  Thompson threw the lineout long and someone who wasn’t participating in the lineout took the ball for Irish.

The away win was all but sealed when Sailosi Tagicakibau (I had to copy and paste that!!) took a ball on halfway and legged it past our side to score on the left, and Flutey converted again.  A lull followed, before Gonzalo Tiesi broke through two weak tackles for the fourth Irish try.  The missed conversion didn’t matter, I have to write the score here: Newcastle 3 London Irish 27.

3-27 at home.  And then it all happened.  Man of the match Mike McCarthy took the ball on the right wing made a lot of ground and let Ben Woods in to score.  Wilkinson converted, giving us a tiny dot of light in the distance.  And then May (read on) atoned for his first half error by scoring well on the right, but the lack of a conversion meant we still needed two tries, not a try and a penalty / drop goal (which we might think proved crucial).

Kingston Park was by now buzzing, in a way it hadn’t been all afternoon.  Tait was driven over by 4,000 Geordies to set up a tense finish, Wilkinson’s conversion cutting the deficit to 5 points.  And then we drove a lineout maul over the Irish line and the referee went to the video official, who eventually deduced we were to take a scrum.   The ball was moved wide to the right, but May dropped the scoring pass and Irish went through to the final.

And so our season, although two games are still left and we won’t be relegated, has been a failure.  For a club like Newcastle, only one thing matters in our present state – Heineken Cup qualification (and if a trophy comes with it, all the better).  That hasn’t happened in 2005/06.

I have seen the Falcons complete many excellent comebacks in my ten years watching them, but after the first hour today, I can honestly say today would have been the greatest of the lot.  The season has been a failure.  Yet it can be a fine line.  If Tom May had caught the ball at the end, if he hadn’t turned inside in the first half, if Mathew Tait hadn’t dropped his penalty, we could be on the way to Harlequins with the chance of making the season a success.  But that can’t hide the fact that, today, the scoreline flattered us.

As your reporter entered the West Stand end after the game, the place wasn’t like a rugby stadium.  It was like a morgue.  Make your own thoughts about that.

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