By Leipziger
December 6 2011

A second half comeback from Worcester could not deny the Falcons' second string a first win of the season on the last day of the A League campaign. After leading by 24 points at half-time, Newcastle needed a late solo score from Jeremy Manning to secure the win.

Manning joined Richard Mayhew, Darren Fearn, Tom Catterick, Luke Eves and Adriaan Fondse in the hosts' strong starting line-up in Darlington, and Ashley Wells was hooker alongside Dan Frazier completing the front row. Will Chudley captained from scrum-half.

The visiting Cavaliers were first on the scoresheet as Tom Arscott found himself on the far right, the Falcons running out of defenders, but we took the lead after 10 minutes as Richard Boyle powered through and Manning converted.

Boyle scored a pushover try and when the Falcons wasted an advantage on the 22, Manning knocked over an easy penalty.

The Falcons seemed to be in full control, and Eves was next over, breaking through a tackle under the posts. Joe Beckett completed the first half scoring on the far right as the whistle was about to go, and with the try bonus point now safe, the conversions of the latter two tries put us 29-5 up at half-time.

The Falcons went straight on the attack at the start of the second half, but it was the last time they would see the away 22 for quite a while. Worcester's comeback began on the hour with two quick tries from Arscott and Sione Tu'ipulotu and a conversion, and another almost arrived but the visitors were judged to have been in touch on the far left.

Replacement prop James Hall was sin-binned and with all of our replacements used and Dan Frazier not allowed to return for some reason, a replacement who looked remarkably like Carl Hayman went into the front row. From the first scrum after the yellow card, Tom Leach scored to get their own try bonus point.

With five minutes to go and our 24-point lead down to just five points, Manning took control despite taking lengthy treatment just minutes earlier. He dropped a bomb to just inside the Worcester half and shoved over a fumbling defender, before chasing the loose ball downfield and scoring the winning try.

The actin was not over however, and Worcester got their second bonus point with another last-man try by Alex Rovira on 80 minutes, the conversion making the result 34-31.

Leeds' hammering at Franklin's Gardens last night means our reserves avoid the wooden spoon in the northern section of the A League, although after almost reaching the semi-finals last season, just one win from this year's five games is a disappointing return.