Late-show Falcons reach cup semis

The mighty Falcons qualified for the semi-finals of the Anglo-Welsh Cup for the first time this afternoon, and are now just 80 minutes away from a cup final thanks to a late comeback against Exeter.

Trailing 0-3 going into the final quarter of the match, the Falcons did not look like getting close to scoring, but an equalising penalty and two tries in the final five minutes takes us into the last four, two wins away from Heineken Cup qualification!

If there were near the alleged 3,800 spectators at KP today, even with the large number of youngsters who had played rugby in the morning, I'd be surprised, but those there were ostensibly treated to a mixed fair on the pitch.

James Fitzpatrick and Alex Tait were in the back-line, Chip in the unfamiliar left wing position, and Jeremy Manning returned at full-back. Andrew van der Heijden started for the first time, shunting Tim Swinson to blindside, and there was a start for James Hall, who despite only playing an hour must have pushed Ally Hogg hard for the man of the match award.

For the first half an hour, the Falcons were totally dominant, in fact I don't think I've seen us have such a long spell of possession and territory all season, but chances were rare. Luke Fielden looked most dangerous, and combined with Jimmy Gopperth to produce our best opening with a break from halfway towards the 22.

Our scrum was dominant, the lineout was functioning quite well and Exeter just didn't seem up for it. However, in the last ten minutes of the first 40 they came upfield and the away forwards tried to bash their way through us. The Chiefs won a penalty with the final play of the half, and Gareth Steenson kicked successfully to give his team a 0-3 lead at half-time.

We 'deserved' to be ahead I suppose, but since we couldn't create chances let alone convert them then did we really?

The second half was a turgid affair under the unrelenting North East rain, although as Exeter dominated at least the hardy few in the North Stand got to see the game played at their end. There is very little to say about the first half an hour of the second half bar James Hudson taking a kick on the wing, but before he could charge for the line he was pulled back for being in front of the kicker.

One of the most interesting things to have happened was that we now playing in black, rather than the blue shirts adorning our lads in the first half.

Finally in the last 15 minutes the Falcons managed to clear, and Hall Charlton, now on for the out-of-sorts Micky Young, helped drive the Falcons forward. With ten minutes to go, Gopperth kicked a penalty to level the scores.

The kick came just more than 150 minutes since our last points at KP – the late try against Sale.

That galvanised the Falcons and the quiet crowd, and we laid siege to the Exeter line. Ally Hogg, Gcobani Bobo, Grant Shiells and others all tried to force their way over, but finally Alex Tait found space and got the ball down on the line. The clock was just under five minutes – a conversion and surely we'd at least get a draw. Few if anyone knew Wasps' score at this point.

Gopperth added the extras. Now all we had to do was defend for three and a half minutes. Slacker said to me “How many things can we do wrong in three minutes?” I said “If anyone can mess this up, we can”. Cue, a knock-on from the kick-off.

But the drama was to happen at the south end, the Falcons broke and replacement Luke Eves slid over the line to send his team-mates and the crowd alike into raptures!

Gopperth's conversion made the score 17-3 with about 30 seconds left, and we kicked for touch after the kick-off to seal passage to the LV= Cup semi-finals!

Perhaps it is the lack of drama and incident for a lot of the game, but that is one of the easiest reports I have written.

Absolutely chuffed at that, this should provide a springboard for us to go to London Irish on Saturday and hopefully get the vital win we need to pull away from Leeds.

Obviously nobody would choose winning this cup over staying in the Premiership, but why can't we have both? Getting a Heineken Cup place sorted in the middle of March would give us immense confidence and another incentive to stay up.

Can't wait for the semi, wherever it is. Well done lads!