Falcons defeated in Sevens final
Aug 6 2010 Nick Purewal
SHATTERED Newcastle Falcons slipped off the pace to Saracens to concede defeat in the inaugural JP Morgan Premiership Sevens final in Bath last night.
Two tries for Kevin Barrett and one for George Kruis were enough for the Fez Heads to see off Newcastle’s solitary score from Chris Pilgrim as the Kingston Park side lost 17-5. After an impressive opening win over Harlequins, a draw with Exeter was enough to see Newcastle squeeze into the final, but Newcastle could not repeat their heroics from victory in the Northern Leg at Leicester two weeks ago.
Kevin Barrett’s converted try handed Saracens the early advantage, but tired-looking Newcastle stuck at the task.
Pilgrim paced home on the stroke of the break but could not convert, leaving Newcastle training 7-5 at the turnaround.
The Falcons battled away after the break but found themselves out on their feet, Kruis powering over after a botched Newcastle lineout in their own 22.
When Barrett romped home for his second, the contest was over.
After romping to flawless victory in the Northern Leg of the inaugural competition in Leicester two weeks ago, the Falcons opened their Pool B account last night with a 26-19 victory over Harlequins.
A 10-10 draw with Exeter Chiefs at the Recreation Ground had the Falcons sweating on results in the final pool clash though.
Newcastle saw off Harlequins 26-19 before being held by Exeter, which left Mark Laycock’s squad nervously watching the Quins-Chiefs showdown.
As the Falcons bagged the four-try bonus point in their Quins victory, the Chiefs required the same against the Londoners – as well as a greater winning margin than Newcastle’s seven points.
Newcastle needed Quins to do them a favour, and stop the Devonians stealing that win and a place in the final against Saracens.
And the men from The Stoop duly delivered, comfortably outdoing the Chiefs 17-7 to ease the path to the showdown with Sarries, who undid Sale and Northampton Saints to smooth their own progression.
Jack Clifford and Sam Smith handed Harlequins the dream start, but in reality the Falcons only had themselves to blame for going two tries down.
Miles Mantella’s great outside break set up Clifford for the opener, but only after Myers failed to hold the kick-off and Amesbury knocked on.
Myers spilled a second straight restart for Smith’s try, but then Newcastle woke up.
Steve Parsons provided a cutback finish on the stroke of half-time, with Mike Ward converting, to put Newcastle in the hunt. Myers atoned for his earlier drops with a try immediately after the turnaround, and then Ward dotted down in the left-hand extremity.
Charlie Walker bounced over for Quins with the try awarded – before the big-screen replay revealed he had lost the ball in the act of grounding before hitting the whitewash.
Howard Graham’s conversion leveled the scores and had Newcastle worrying about being robbed, but Laycock’s men had more than enough resolve to win out. Burdon backed himself for the line on the outside arc to score the bonus-point try to ensure Newcastle picked up where they had left off at Welford Road two weeks ago.
After that 26-19 opening win, the Falcons faced Premiership newcomers Exeter Chiefs.
Just as in the Quins contest, the Falcons suffered from a slow start and found themselves two tries down thanks to sloppy kick-off receipt.
Mike Canty scored in the right corner from a fine Chiefs turnover, before Eoghan Grace chipped and collected to outstrip Hamish Smales. Josh Matavesi crucially missed both conversions though, and just before the break Falcons speed king Tyson Lewis pasted home from halfway.
Smales shanked the conversion from under the posts, and the scores remained at 10-5 at the turnaround.
When Matavesi was sin-binned in the second half though, Burdon exploited the space to romp home and secure the 10-10 draw.
