Falcons Hold On As It Goes To The Wire

Falcons Hold On As It Goes To The Wire

- Alan Hedley

NEWCASTLE’S second biggest crowd of the season were handed an early Christmas present when the Falcons hung on for a one-point win over Harlequins.

“Nobody was going home early,” said Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards after Harlequins almost clawed their way back from being 11-0 down at half time to be just one point adrift and come close to snatching victory in a frantic second half.

Vereniki Goneva’s 16th minute try and two Sonatane Takulua penalties gave Falcons an 11-0 half time lead but it never looked quite enough in the swirling wind which favoured Quins after the break.

And when Quins hit back through a 44th minute Mike Brown try with Marcus Smith converting and adding a penalty in the 67th minute, the lead was a slender 11-10 to set up a pulsating finish.