Falcons stun leaders

Newcastle Falcons continued their resurgence with a 14-10 victory over Guinness Premiership leaders Leicester on Friday night.

A try from centre Tane Tu'ipulotu and nine points from the boot of fly-half Tom May put the hosts into a 14-0 lead at half-time and they held on, despite failing to add to the scoreline after the restart, for a seventh win in eight games.

The Tigers got on the board through a Toby Flood penalty and grabbed a losing bonus point at the death as Ben Youngs capitalised on a chargedown to score.

But the loss still meant an end to a five-match winning streak for the Tigers, who were boosted by the return of captain Martin Corry after a six-week suspension, while Flood, Tom Croft, Harry Ellis, Martin Castrogiovanni and Geordan Murphy all returned from international duty.

To and fro

The game opened with both sides showing the confidence to go through the phases and it was the Falcons who took a 15th-minute lead when England centre Jamie Noon made room to offload in midfield, allowing wing John Rudd to take the attack into the 22.

The move eventually ended with full-back Alex Tait putting Tu'ipulotu over in the corner for an unconverted try.

The visitors were enjoying the majority of possession but their play was riddled with uncharacteristic errors and the Falcons capitalised when fly-half May extended the lead by knocking over a 45-metre penalty.

He then slammed over a drop goal from a similar distance moments later and added a further penalty to take the hosts in with a healthy lead.

The Falcons found themselves under pressure after the interval, though, and conceded a penalty to Flood after a sustained spell of attacking possession.

With Leicester's creative axis of Flood and Aaron Mauger some way below its incisive best, the Tigers continued to dominate territory and possession but were being frustrated by Steve Bates' side.

They earned what could prove to be a vital bonus point, though, as May's clearance to touch to end the match was charged down and replacement Youngs dotted down the bouncing ball and Flood added the extras.