Attacking Falcons pay penalty for misses

Newcastle Falcons still cannot buy a win, losing an eighteenth successive Premiership match yesterday against London Irish, the only English team to lose at Kingston Park in 2013/14.

Despite three tries in a more attacking display than was seen for the majority of last season, the Falcons just couldn't get over the line and fell 18-20 to the Exiles, but there was plenty for home fans to be encouraged about on KP's new plastic pitch.

The Falcons gave a competitive debut to Eric Fry in the front row due to Rob Vickers' injury, while Mark Wilson came into the back row for Richard Mayhew and Jamie Helleur took Gonzalo Tiesi's place on the bench.

In almost perfect conditions for rugby, the Falcons started brightly with a fast game plan and aggressive carrying towards the North Stand. Juan Pablo Socino had an early opportunity to open the scoring on his home debut, but dragged a penalty wide.

Despite the backs looking slicker, particularly Phil Godman at fly-half, the opening try came from the forwards as Josh Furno was driven over from a lineout, scoring his first try in a Newcastle shirt on the left. Socino was unable to convert but the try fed optimism among the almost-6,000 in attendance.

Sinoti Sinoti and Adam Powell probed in the backs, while Calum Green and Furno also led from the front in the engine room, but the Falcons were unable to build on their lead and Shane Geraghty put last year's KP nightmare behind him to get Irish on the scoreboard with a penalty after twenty minutes.

The visitors took the upper hand, holding onto possession and making repeated drives towards the home 22, but the Falcons' defence held strong until just minutes from half-time, Geraghty sent over another penalty to put Irish into the lead at the break.

In the second half, Geraghty missed his third penalty attempt but Irish got their try through a break by Fergus Mulchrone, the former England back making no mistake from the conversion.

The try seemed to galvanise the Falcons, who were now 5-13 down, and with the crowd the Falcons forwards on in the South 22, Tom Court was sent to the bin for a high tackle. Socino missed the resulting penalty, but when another penalty was sent to the left corner, replacement prop Scott Wilson finished off the rolling maul to reduce the deficit to three points.

Irish pulled away again though, as after Godman took a big hit to the shoulder with a low tackle on James Short in the 22, former Falcon Andrew Fenby took a pass on the 22 and ran in on the far left to increase the visitors' lead. The ball was already on the tee when Andrew Small decided to check the big screen, but with an inconclusive angle on the scoring pass, the referee awarded the try and Geraghty hit the conversion sweetly.

Bolstered by Ruki Tipuna, Jamie Helleur, Alesana Tuilagi and Dom Barrow from the bench, the Falcons threw everything at London Irish but initially had to be content with a Socino penalty to get back into bonus point range. The penalty provoked outrage among home supporters, the referee apparently failing to spot blatant offside interference in his line of sight and only awarding the penalty after discussion with his assistant on the opposite side of the field, then failing to give a yellow card.

With the clock reading only three minutes to go, Sinoti bashed his way through for a third Newcastle try on the far right, touching down one-handed and being awarded the try after TMO confirmation. Socino lined up a conversion from out wide that would have given the Geordies a draw, but his kick hit the post and the Falcons were unable to get a winning score.

Although the statistics show that the Falcons are getting ever closer to a full league season without a victory, yesterday's game should have inspired some confidence in a new game plan that shows real signs of progress, and though it might not be at home to champions Northampton on Sunday, a win is surely not far away.