Falcons unflappable at Brive

A wonderful display of kicking from Jonny Wilkinson helped Newcastle to the top of Pool Three in the European Challenge Cup on Friday night.

The Falcons now stand on 19 points after a 12-16 victory over nearest rivals Brive, who took a losing bonus point to leave them in second place with 16.

Wilkinson bossed the game with the boot inflicting some devastating tactical kicking on the home side and slotting four penalties from all angles in difficult conditions.

But it was Brive who took the lead initially via the boot of Luciano Orquera, who twice hit the target in the early stages.

But a strong drive from the Newcastle forwards combined with great vision from Wilkinson put Toby Flood through for the first try of the match.

Flood added the extras with his boot and minutes later Wilkinson added three more to give the visitors a four point lead on 6-10 at the halfway mark.

Brive had an opportunity to close the gap when James Grindal was sin-binned for going over the top with his boot on 45 minutes but Orquera saw his kick pulled wide.

But six minutes later there was no such doubt for Wilkinson, who slotted three more points after first having to move five metres back to find a bit of turf decent enough to stand the ball on.

Superb

Sloppy play by Newcastle however saw them give away a penalty directly in front of the posts, leaving Orquera a simple 35 metre kick to keep the home side in touch at 9-13 on the 55 minute mark.

Wilkinson however began to take control and when his crossfield kick was fumbled deep in Breive territory the fly half showed why he is one of the game's most feared goal kickers, completing a superb penalty kick from the touchline to re-establish Newcastle's seven point lead going into the final quarter.

With nine minutes to go Orquera kicked the home side back into the game with a fantastic effort from almost 50 metres to take the score to 12-16.

But on 81 minutes it was Wilkinson again who stepped up to punish the French and squeeze another through the uprights with a terrific strike from the opposite touchline

Spirited

A spirited counter attack deep into injury time saw the home side threatening the Falcons' try line from the line out.

And the effort almost paid off as, taking possession from the throw, Brive piled on the pressure, driving towards the Falcons' line in what was the first real test of their defence all night.

Brive's forwards thought they had touched down to level the score at the death.

But after an agonising wait the TV ref decided that the ball had been grounded just short of the line and time had run out for the home team.