Falcons pluck late win

A late Brent Wilson try saw Newcastle come out on top in a thrilling Guinness Premiership encounter against Sale on Sunday.

Newcastle ran in four tries courtesy of Jon Golding, Danny Williams, Andrew Fenby and Wilson on their way to a memorable 32-25 win at Edgeley Park.

The visitors withstood an all out assault from the Sharks, sparked by some pinpoint kicking by fly-half Charlie Hodgson, that left them reeling for the first 20 minutes.

But gradually they fought their way back into a match that could have gone either way right up to the dying seconds.

Sale shot out of the blocks from the whistle and put Newcastle under intense pressure during the opening quarter.

Hodgson was in devastating form with the boot, setting up a series of surges with some searching kicks at the Newcastle defence.

Shell-shocked

The early pressure proved too much for the Falcons and just before the three minute mark their defence crumbled, Neil Briggs barging over for the try.

Hodgson converted to make it 7-0 and two minutes later extended Sale's lead to 10 with a long range penalty.

The fly-half added three more soon after to leave a shell-shocked Newcastle 13 points adrift just seven minutes into the match, and it wasn't until the 15-minute before Tom May pulled three back for the visitors.

But within a minute another needless error cost the Falcons again, Hodgson taking the score to 16-3 with a soft penalty.

Almost immediately May had the opportunity to close the gap following Newcastle's first meaningful attacking move of the day but his kick drifted wide.

The fly-half made no mistake though when Dean Schofield was penalised for a high tackle within shooting distance on 21 minutes. This time May hit the target from 38 metres to take the score to 16-6.

Threatening

Newcastle now began to grind their way back into the game and were beginning to look more threatening from their set pieces.

Carl Hayman blasted his way over for the visitors on 27 minutes after a spell of pressure on the Sale line, but Jason White managed to drive his way beneath the prop, the video referee confirming he had been held up after a short wait.

The Falcons kept up the pressure though, and from the resulting scrum Golding found a gap and burrowed his way through to touch down.

May was unable to add the extras but, with the deficit reduced to just five points, Newcastle had successfully fought their way back into the game after dominating the second quarter.

The second half began with the Falcons exploding out of the blocks, Williams scoring the visitors' second try within a minute of the restart.

Hodgson found himself on the receiving end of the fightback when he was run ragged by Falcons' chasers after becoming isolated in possession soon after the kick-off.

Sublime

Newcastle took full advantage of the turnover, shifting the ball wide for Williams to cross thanks to some slick passing from May and Jamie Noon.

May added the extras to take the scoreline to 18-16 and put Newcastle into the lead for the first time in the match.

Hodgson restored the home side's advantage five minutes later and May missed an opportunity on the 48 minute mark.

But two minutes later Newcastle struck from the turnover again to claim their third, Tait selling a sublime dummy before offloading to Fenby for the score - the winger's first in the Premiership.

May's conversion gave the visitors a six-point lead but the try seemed to galvanise Sale and almost immediately from the restart they created an opportunity, duly taken by Hodgson, to close the gap to three points.

Then on 64 minutes Hodgson booked his place in the record books when he overhauled Jonny Wilkinson as the Guinness Premiership's all-time highest point scorer.

With the scores level at 25 apiece it was Newcastle's domination in the scrum that proved decisive, Wilson barrelling over three minutes from time after the Falcons' pack had shoved the hosts off their own ball.

This time the erratic May was bang on target with the boot and took his side into the dying minutes with a vital seven point advantage.

Sale threw their all into the final attack but Newcastle held out for the win, at the same time delivering a body blow to the hosts' play off hopes.