Into The Abyss


By Happy Hooker (01/12/02)
December 2 2002

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. If ever there was a must-win game this was it but when the chips were down we blew it, and a classy Bristol team won this basement battle and consigned the Falcons to their fifth defeat in a row. We are now staring into the abyss.

It was never going to be easy. The Shoguns are on a roll at the moment and they played with a confidence that belies their league position. They won this game by three tries to nil, Bristol winger Brendon Daniel, grabbing a hat-trick, and the truth is it might have been a larger margin. All we had to show in reply were four Liam Botham penalties.

Bristol's back play was slick, their kicking intelligent and their defence solid. By contrast our passing was laboured, we gave away too many penalties and the line-out was a mess. And even though referee Chris White missed a lot of Bristol skulduggery in the rucks, we can't use him as a scapegoat. And yet it all started promisingly enough. Falcons applied the early pressure and we even nicked two Bristol line-outs before we started to give away penalties. The first opportunity was missed by Shoguns fly-half Contepomi but he made no mistake after 16 minutes when Falcons were adjudged to have handled in the ruck. Falcons 0 Bristol 3. A couple of minutes later lightning handling by the Bristol backs created an overlap on the right and Daniel went over near the corner for the first of his three tries. Contepomi missed the conversion but Bristol were now leading 8-0. Liam Botham managed to pull back three points after 20 minutes with a miss-kicked penalty that just scraped over the bar. Meanwhile Bristol were looking more and more menacing. England wing Phil Christophers had a dazzling run as Bristol piled on the pressure. Only dour defence prevented a further score with Bristol camped on the Falcons line. Then five minutes before the break Pichot put through a clever grubber kick which sat up beautifully, Daniel raced on to the ball and raced over to collect his second try of the game. Contepomi converted to make it 15-3 to Bristol. The Falcons bounced back and Jamie Noon made a great break down the left. But all we got for our efforts was a penalty when Bristol were caught offiside. Liam Botham collected the points and I for one breathed a sigh of relief we were only trailing 15-3 at the break. It could have been a lot worse. HALF-TIME : FALCONS 6 BRISTOL SHOGUNS 15 The Shoguns came blasting out of the blocks at the start of the second half, mounting one attack after another. The pressure was relentless but credit where it's due, the Falcons defence held out and in fact the first points of the half went to the Falcons, Botham landing another penalty after Bristol strayed offside. Falcons 9 Bristol 15. Although Bristol looked the better side you began to feel we might get something out of this game. There was a fine run by Michael Stephenson who had one of his better games. But the lineout wasn't working well. We must have lost seven or eight during the course of the game and it was no surprise when New Zealander James Christian making his debut for the Falcons was replaced by Matt Thompson after 18 minutes. On 20 minutes Botham grabbed another penalty after another strong Falcons attack to make the score Falcons 12 Bristol 15. Three points in it now and anyone's game, or so we thought. But not for long. After 25 minutes Daniel delivered the killer blow, racing down the right-hand touchline to score in the corner. Contepomi missed the conversion and it was now Falcons 12 Bristol 20. The Falcons staged a brave late rally but the Bristol defence was solid. The afternoon was summed up when fly-half Phil Godman with a two-man overlap, threw the ball straight into touch with the try-line beckoning. Then to cap it all, Botham missed a fairly easy penalty which would have at least salvaged a point. I find it hard to draw much comfort from this performance. As for individuals, Botham acquitted himself well and was named Falcons man of the match. There were creditable performances from Stephenson and Noon, and I thought Arnold and Dunbar had good games. Phil Godman looked out of his depth at fly half, his passing poor and laboured. James Christian played well in the loose but his throwing at the line-out was poor . Having said that he's had only ten days or so to learn the line-out calls. So where do we go from here? I haven't a clue. We have only four home games left against the likes of Saints and Leicester. And we seem incapable of winning away from home. Unless they change the rules for promotion and relegation, we really are staring into the abyss. FINAL SCORE: FALCONS 12 BRISTOL SHOGUNS 20 Newcastle Falcons Team 15 Joe Shaw, 14 Liam Botham, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Tom May, 11 Michael Stephenson, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Hall Charlton, 1 Ian Peel, 2 James Christian, 3 Marius Hurter, 4 Hugh Vyvyan, 5 Stuart Grimes, 6 John Dunbar, 7 Phil Dowson, 8 Richard Arnold. Bristol Shoguns Team 15 Shane Drahm, 14 Brendon Daniel, 13 Andy Higgins, 12 Darryl Gibson, 11 Phil Christophers, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Agustin Pichot, 1 Emi Bergamaschi, 2 Paul Johnstone, 3 Darren Crompton, 4 Garath Archer, 5 Alex Brown, 6 Matt Salter, 7 Craig Short, 8 Rhys Oakley.
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