By Duncan Wood
November 10 2002

Andrew Higgins ran in two tries and picked up the Man of the Match award. But the platform was laid up front where the forwards reigned supreme and gave the Falcons nothing to work with.

To be honest, this one was over as a contest after about 20 minutes although the Falcons deserve credit for their dogged determination in battling on despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline.

Bristol's scrum looked to have the upper hand from the off and the Shoguns forwards were soon making theie presence felt in the loose. Alex Brown and Garath Archer were both prominent in the build up to the first try on 6 minutes.

It still took a moment of class from Felipe Contepomi to prise open the Newcastle defence after the forwards established great field position. His grubber kick into the in goal area was perfectly weighted and Andrew Higgins won the race for the touchdown. 5-0 to Bristol.

Earl Va'a struck back with a penalty for an offence at the tackle area but Bristol were soon back on the offensive. Bristol drove deep into the Newcastle 22 and the ball was moved left to Daryl Gibson who two men outside him and only one defender. Only one pass was needed and Phil Christophers sprinted through the gap and over in the corner. A superb touchline conversion from Felipe made it 10-3.

Brisotl had such a platform up front that they alomost had more possession than they knew what to do with. They looked especially good moving the ball left and one such move led to Daryl Gibson breaking clear before chipping ahead forcing Hall Charlton to carry the ball over.

From the 5 metre scrum, Pichot fed Contepomi who dummied his way over under the posts. Felipe disappeared onto the Centernary Terrace to celebrate before returning to convert his own score. 19-3 after 18 minutes.

We only had to wait 6 minutes for another score. Great hands from Lee Best provided a sympathetic pass for Brendon Daniel to run onto. Daniel only had a yard of space to work with but he powered past Michael Stephenson and dived over in the corner. Brendon and Lee's delight was obvious as they jogged back to halfway. 24-3.

The game then went into a lull as Bristol seemed to relax with the game seemingly in the bag and the game becane scrappy with errors aplenty on both sides.

However, in first half injury time, Bristol stepped it up a gear once more with Higgins and Contepomi both prominent as Christophers popped up on the right wing and slid over in the corner despite the attentions of 3 Newcastle defenders. Contepomi again added a superb touchline conversion. 31-3 at half time.

Bristol pressed from the off in the second period but handling mistakes brought promising moves to an end and penalties conceded gave Newcastle the chance to clear their lines.

However, Bristol crossed for the sixth time on 54 minutes. Contepomi went close but kept the ball alive superbly as he was dumoed backwards. Pichot fed Higgins who danced and sidestepped his way over through a crowd. An easy conversion for Felipe made it 38-3.

Newcastle got a consolation minutes later when Taione went around Garath Archer before flinging a speculative pass inside. The ball bounced loose but Newcastle regathered and Taione forced his way over despite Pichot's attempted tackle. Botham converted to make it 38-10.

And that was it for the scoring. Bristol used all their replacements as several players departed with minor looking injuries. Agustin Pichot got one of the biggest receptions I've heard in years as he was replaced.

Bristol looked more likely to score in the closing stages and Daryl Gibson came close in the final minutes but the Newcastle defence was gallant.

The platform was laid up front where the scrum had Newcastle in trouble from the off. The lineout was less assured but the tackling by the forwards and work with ball in hand was superb. Alex Brown and Garath Archer both put in some crunching tackles.

Pichot and Contepomi ran the show and Gibson, after a couple of early handling errors, pulled the strings in midfield. All the outside backs looked sharp but the pick of the bunch was Andrew Higgins who deservedly won Man of the Match.

He looks right back to his best form of last season. He ran with power, pace and purpose. His tackling was sound and he put Taione on his back when they tussled - great stuff!

A fine performance - more of the same next week please!