Newcastle Red Bulls
Newcastle v Exeter, 06/02/2011
By Leipziger
February 4 2011
The weekend has got off to a good start with the news that James Hudson and Grant Shiells amongst others have signed new contracts, and hopefully it will continue on Sunday as we meet Exeter in the fourth leg of our five-game series against the Chiefs this season.
The LV= Cup group stage is coming to an end, and for the first time since 2007/08 we are in with a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals on the last matchday. With a two-point advantage over Wasps, we have the advantage of knowing a win will definitely see us go through, while Exeter need a win to go through but must also rely on Cardiff beating Harlequins at the Stoop, presumably unlikely.
Wins for Harlequins and Ospreys, who play Wasps at the Liberty Stadium, will put us into the last four whatever the result at KP. Both of these games are on Sunday too, although Harlequins v Cardiff kicks off at the slightly later time of 3.15pm.
Last weekend Exeter hammered Leicester 35-10 at Sandy Park, with five tries. Leicester may not have been anywhere near full-strength, but that won’t have mattered to the Chiefs or the 7,000+ watching. If we get 7,000 in on Sunday then I will, well, I’ll be very surprised.
Exeter have not won away from home since 30th October, when they beat Saracens at Vicarage Road. Following that was a 23-23 at the Cardiff City Stadium in the LV= Cup, but since then they have lost four consecutive away matches, including against us at Netherdale in Europe before Christmas.
So Exeter lead our 2010/11 series 2-1 at the moment, having beaten us twice in Devon before Christmas ahead of our tight triumph in Netherdale, although overall it is 2-2 if we include our visitors’ only previous trip to Kingston Park, in the old (and better) knockout cup in 1998. So unless it’s a draw this Sunday, which could well be enough to secure a semi-final place for us, one team will take the lead.
Hudson celebrates his new contract on Sunday by having Andrew van der Heijden start alongside him for the first time, Tim Swinson moving to the back row. Jeremy Manning is back in the starting team, and James Fitzpatrick and James Hall get an opportunity to continue recent good form.
15 Jeremy Manning
14 Luke Fielden
13 Tane Tu'ipulotu
12 James Fitzpatrick
11 Alex Tait
10 Jimmy Gopperth
9 Micky Young
1 Jon Golding
2 Matt Thompson
3 James Hall
4 James Hudson (capt)
5 Andrew Van der Heijden
6 Tim Swinson
7 Will Welch
8 Ally Hogg
16 Rob Vickers
17 Kieran Brookes
18 Grant Shiells
19 Glen Townson
20 Mark Wilson
21 Hall Charlton
22 Luke Eves
23 Gcobani Bobo
Exeter team:
15 Paul McKenzie
14 Nemani Nadolo
13 Nic Sestaret
12 Bryan Rennie
11 Andrew Higgins
10 Gareth Steenson (capt)
9 Junior Poluleuligaga
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Chris Whitehead
3 Chris Budgen
4 Chad Slade
5 Dave Gannon
6 Dave Ewers
7 Andy Miller
8 James Phillips
16 Jon Vickers
17 Ruaidhri Murphy
18 Ignacio Elosu
19 Eoghan Grace
20 Herbie Stupple
21 Garrick Cowley
22 Ignacio Mieres
23 Josh Matavesi
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Looking forward to seeing how James Hall performs against what is always a formidable Exeter front row.I was very impressed by his ten minute cameo against Flatman at Bath. Big future he has as a scrummaging prop I think.
Personal comments deleted
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:02:07:09:15:32 by TouchLine.
Hope injury to Fielden is not long term with the way he has been playing.
Looking forward to it.
Go and win the thing now.
Don't understand why we wait until the last 5/10 minutes to pick up the tempo
Pleased to see the Falcons set piece do well especially in those conditions. Well done to those involved as it must of been very tough.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:02:07:09:16:25 by TouchLine.
On the pitch, again I thought James Hall did well as did all of the pack, we lacked that final pass to finally break them down. VDH and Hudson played well as did Hogg. Man of the match for me was Manning as he looked solid, always looked to run the ball and attack and encourages others around him.
Actually dull is a tad unfair, it was poor conditions and we did everything but score for the majority of the first half. Agree with comments about Young and Tulip. Very pleasing to see us play with a bit of vigour and adventure towards the end. Most pleasing were the players celebrations on scoring and the obvious "team" delight.
What disappointed me about the first half especially was that we failed to turn our dominance into points. There seemed to be a lack of communication between the No 8, the SH and the FH.
For instance there was one occasion when we were camped on the Exeter line for fully two minutes repeatedly trying to burrow our way over before losing the ball. And yet they had just one man defending the try-line left off the posts whereas we had four backs ready to attack. Why on earth didn't we throw the ball wide? Someone - usually the SH or the FH - has to call the shots in those situations. There was no direction at all.
Agree about Micky Young. He was poor and his passing was all over the place - round the head one minute down at the feet the next. By contrast when Hall Charlton came on the passes were going straight into the bread basket. Frankly I wouldn't play Young in this form, rather Charlton or Pilgrim if fit.
Gopperth had a poorish game too I thought. Always seemed to be caught in two minds although I don't think the slow service from Young helped. However he redeemed himself in the last ten minutes with some fine kicking.
Manning once again gave a flawless performance. He really is a superb little footballer - quick, creative, always looking for an opening.
When I complimented him after the game he said modestly: "Oh, I didn't have much to do!"
I like this guy.
Though I've not met Manning, I agree that he is turning out to be a very decent player.
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