Falcons leave it late
Newcastle scored two late tries to beat Exeter 17-3 and reach the semi-finals of the LV= Cup at Kingston Park on Sunday.
Last Updated: 06/02/11 5:43pm
Newcastle scored two late tries to beat Exeter 17-3 and reach the semi-finals of the LV= Cup at Kingston Park on Sunday.
The match took place in miserable weather conditions and mistakes were as a result frequent, with much of the play limited to midfield.
However, that all changed with 10 minutes to go as tries from Alex Tait and Luke Eves swung the contest in the Falcons' favour.
Newcastle could have gone ahead early in the match after superb interplay between Jeremy Manning, Jimmy Gopperth and Luke Fielden ended with Fielden being stopped five metres short.
The Newcastle pack then drove over, but referee Chris White decided the ball had been held up.
Dour
Little else of note happened in a dour first half, with the only points going Exeter's way when Gareth Steenson kicked a penalty.
Matters hardly improved in the second half as both sides struggled to stamp their authority.There were also numerous stoppages for injuries and substitutions to disrupt the flow.
Exeter carved out a few chances to extend their lead with a series of drives but they could not find a way through some determined Falcons tackling.
With 70 minutes of the contest gone the Falcons finally got on the scoresheet when Gopperth kicked a penalty from the touchline to level.
Newcastle appeared rejuvenated and with four minutes remaining, Gcobani Bobo's sudden burst of speed had Exeter on the backfoot.
The home side mounted successive drives before Exeter's back line finally succumbed, with Tait surging through to cross for a try which Gopperth converted.
The match was settled in the final minute when Newcastle surged clear with a flowing 60-metre move that Eves finished off.
