Flood of kicks lands Falcons’ first victory
THE boot of former England fly-half Toby Flood steered Newcastle to a first Gallagher Premiership victory of the season.
Last year’s play-off semi-finalists held on to beat battling Worcester 23-20 at Sixways.
Flood kicked three second-half penalties to add to first-half conversions of tries from scrum-half Sonatane Takulua and wing Sinoti Sinoti.
But the Falcons let Worcester off the hook as Scottish fly-half Duncan Weir scored a try, conversion and penalty, with full-back Chris Pennell landing a long penalty – while the hosts were also awarded a penalty try.
Newcastle had Worcester in trouble after just 11 minutes as the Warriors fell asleep in midfield and allowed the visitors two try-scoring chances.
Loosehead prop Sami Mavinga stepped past a tackle on halfway after six minutes to show a blistering turn of pace and set up Takulua with an inside pass for a straight run to the line.
And, after Worcester threatened, Newcastle hit them again when a beautifully timed inside pass from former England fly-half Flood put Sinoti flying into open space and away down the middle.
Flood converted both tries and it looked like being an easy afternoon for the Falcons as they led 14-0.
However, Worcester fought back as the Falcons went into the break with 13 men on the pitch and leading by just four points.
It would need a confidence boost to get Worcester back in the