By adammg
February 13 2011

Billed as a 'must win' for both teams, today was always going to be a tough, physical match. Newcastle were desperate for the win to move them away from Leeds, whilst despite winning in every other competition London Irish still haven't had a Premiership win this year.

Lamb took the kick off, well into the Newcastle defense, which was promptly kicked directly into touch. The resulting throw in was taken by Buckland, and set the tone for the afternoon with good line outs being taken by both sides. Retained by Irish, the ball was gathered well and moved well through the phases, until Newcastle were caught with hands over the top in the second minute.

Lamb stepped up and struck the penalty well - 3-0 to London Irish.

This penalty seemed to help raise Newcastle's focus, and they started strongly. The restart was caught well by Ojo, and was run back into the Newcastle pack who quickly won the ball back. Committing smashing runs from the Falcons pack, they slowly and steadily started beating a path from the half way line, and after a good five minutes of possession had beaten Irish back to their try line. Only a forward pass to the wing stopped the Falcons going over in the corner.

Irish won the resulting scrum, but Maps knocked on as the ball came down the line, giving Newcastle a scrum just meters from the LI try line.

Newcastle took the scrum well, and Gopperth broke through the line and scored just next to the sticks. He also took the resulting conversion, giving Newcastle a 3-7 lead.

Lamb took the restart, which was put out almost immediately. Buckland's throw in was tipped by the Falcons line, but was regained by some good work from Jamie Gibson. Irish held well and continued to move the ball well through the phases, until the 15th minute where Newcastle were once again penalized for reaching over. Lamb couldn't get the further 3 points, and Newcastle carried on trying to run the ball out of their half.

Newcastle gave away another penalty in the 18th minute, which Lamb narrowly missed, as his attempt bounced back out off the right upright.

Following another good lineout from Irish, Newcastle won a scrum in the 19th minute. Newcastle retained the ball, and the clearance kick was fearlessly charged down by Dodge. Unfortunately he caught the full force of the ball square in the face, resulting in a nasty blood injury. It was clear that Dodge was out the game, and Allinson took over.

A series of scrums ensued, which led to the ball making it's way to Ryan Lamb. Finding the line stretch open, Lamb darted through the space and scored a try by the posts. He converted, leaving the score at 10-7.

The next ten minutes saw some good back and forth play. Each team held their own scrums, and in particular Topsy ran some excellent lines into the Falcons line. With four minutes to go, the ref brought the game back for a penalty on the LI 10m line. Gopperth stepped up, but his effort hit the left post and bounced back to Ryan Lamb.

The second half started abruptly, with the Falcons kicking the restart straight out, giving the momentum back to the hosts. After a series of scrums and free play Topsy drove into the Falcons 22, with Fieldon making a last ditch tackle on the Falcons try line.

The resulting throw in was driven well by Gibson, who was held up just in front of the line. The ball came back out to Clark Dermody to crash over for a try in the corner. Lamb missed the conversion, leaving the score at 15-7.

Dermody then left the field, sub'd with Dan Murphy. From the restart both sets of forwards kept pounding into each other, more or less staying around the half way line, until a quick throw in was taken by Thompstone to Stowers. He quickly passed it back and sent Thompstone away on the wing. Another last ditch tackle stopped the attack right on the try line, and the clearance was caught by Lamb on the half way line. Running the ball back in let Darren Allinson cut through the line, who passed to Maps to score his try. Lamb missed the following conversion - 20-7.

The next 10 minutes saw a raft of substitutions from both sides, a random two minute spell of aerial tennis, and several good drives from both teams. Topsy made a couple more good runs, but nothing really penetrated into either 22.

With just over 6 minutes to go LI got a penalty just in front of the 22, and Malone struck well to take the score to 23-7. This seemed to rally the Falcons somewhat, and despite putting a high tackle in on Dan Bowden the Falcons kept hold of the ball, locking out the bonus point try.

With one minute to go Tagicakibau was sub'd off looking in quite serious discomfort, clutching his arm. I really hope that isn't a serious injury. Steff Armitage covered the wing for the rest of the match.

The Falcons refused to let the ball die, and were rewarded with a good try by their no. 23 (didn't see his name) after the 80th minute. Gopperth converted to give the final score of 23-14.