By Ian Todd
February 20 2007

Surprise title contenders Bristol snatched a dramatic late 22-21 victory in a rare visit to the Memorial Ground. It looked as though Newcastle had, despite Jonny Wilkinson's absence, taken the spoils until a converted penalty try gave Bristol a last-gasp win. Things began badly for Newcastle when they were in front of the kicker at the start. It soon got worse when they gave away a penalty at the resulting scrum. Bristol looked to attack, but a penalty at the breakdown appeared to have let Newcastle off the hook. However, everyone in the ground (except the referee) had seen the touch judge raise his flag. Those close to the scene knew that the Falcons number 8, Winter, as the culprit for some ‘over vigorous’ rucking. Sure enough the penalty was reversed and Winter made his way to the sin bin. David Hill struck the penalty and it was 3-0 with only two minutes played. It was Newcastle who seemed sharper after the internationals and they soon forced a long range penalty of their own and Flood equalised the scores. Bristol were soon pressurising Newcastle with their faithful catch-and-drive but Newcastle defended manfully and kept the Bristol pack at bay.

Newcastle soon showed the threat posed by their backline as Tait fixed the defence to give Rudd some space out wide. Some poor tackling allowed the Newcastle player to make ground. The ball went to Sorenson who swiftly fed to Tait who sped over for a try. Flood failed with the difficult conversion attempt but it was 3-8 with a quarter of an hour gone. Bristol strove to get back on terms with Hill and Brian Lima making good breaks. Newcastle kept their line intact as Burke knocked on attempting to intercept a pass out to Lee Robinson. Normally I feel any one-handed attempt is a deliberate knock-on, but in this case it looked a genuine attempt to get the ball. Bristol not only failed to make a breakthrough but suffered two injuries as Josh Taumalolo went off and Lima injured his hamstring. Craig Morgan went to fullback and Jason Strange to fly-half, with Hill moving into the centre. Morgan soon has to get into the action but he sliced his defensive kick badly. Newcastle looked to be getting on top of a flustered Bristol side. This proved to be the case as Bristol conceded another kickable penalty for Flood extending the visitors lead to 3-11. Bristol managed to narrow the gap when the officials at last noted that the Newcastle defence played ‘close’ to the offside line and Hill nailed his kick to make the score 6-11. Another injury blighted Bristol’s afternoon when Alfie To’oala was forced off. The latest reorganisation saw Gareth Llewellyn come on and Ray Winters move into the back row. The rejigged pack was able to take in their opposite numbers and force a penalty which Hill kicked to make it 9-11 at half-time.

Were we in for one of Bristol’s trademark second half fight backs? Initially it looked that way as the forwards turned over Newcastle possession and won an attacking scrum. Shaun Perry whipped out a pass for Robinson, cutting an excellent line, to go over. The referee ruled the pass forward, so no try. The injury gods had clearly not been propitiated and Hill now went off, for what looked to be a blood injury, but which later proved to be a broken finger. In the meantime Bristol failed to get a replacement on and Newcastle took advantage of the depleted defence. Flood kicked downfield but Robinson chased back and showed how his defence has come on by clearing to touch over his shoulder. Brian O’Riordan came on as full back and Morgan went to centre, but the delay in getting the replacement meant that Newcastle had gained a big territorial advantage. The further reorganisation failed to help the Bristol cause as Newcastle swept into the attack. The ball went along the back line and was offloaded in the tackle to Noon who had the pace to go over in the corner. Frankly it looked a forward pass, but the referee did not agree. Flood made the tricky conversion and took Newcastle to a 9-18 lead with half an hour still to paly. Bristol failed to make any real response and it was Newcastle who were next to score from a penalty and it was 9-21.

At this point Newcastle seemed content to defend their lead. Paradoxically, this allowed Bristol back into the game. Newcastle kicked possession away and the ball was fielded magnificently by David Lemi. He chipped ahead and caught the ball. Rob Higgit took the ball into midfield and the Newcastle tackler was penalised for failing to roll away. Strange stepped up and took the kick to make the score 12-21. Still Bristol were out of bonus point range. Newcastle seemingly remained happy to hold onto their lead and continued to kick back to Bristol. The monster boot of Robinson sent a reply spiralling down the touchline and Rudd just stepped into touch as he attempted to deal with it. Bristol went for the trusty catch-and-drive but Newcastle were again up to the challenge. Bristol had some territory now and when Falcons went offside Strange was able to land another penalty kick to bring Bristol back into bonus point land. Bristol hammered away with both Robinson and Perry close to breaking through. However, the defence held firm. Newcastle resorted to giving away penalties, knowing that three points were insufficient and that time was on their side. Bristol persevered and forced a sequence of lineouts. The pressure was immense and it was little surprise when Woods was shown the yellow card. Another penalty followed and the referee spoke to both the captain and the miscreant. Bristol took the scrum, which collapsed. Reset, it collapsed again and the referee trotted under the posts with arm upraised. Penalty try! Strange duly converted and Bristol led 22-21. There were still 3 minutes to go and Newcastle strove to get into scoring range. They went through phase after phase, holding on to possession. But the Bristol defence was resolute and disciplined, the tackles hammered in and Newcastle ran out of time.