Black Friday for Falcons
FORMER TABLE TOPPERS ARE STRUGGLING TO HIT TOP FORM
NEWCASTLE Falcons slumped to their fourth league defeat in a row during a lack-lustre 29-7 home defeat to Gloucester.
The visitors coasted to a 19-0 firsthalf lead thanks to tries from Andy Symons, Jeremy Thrush and Henry Purdy before Mark Wilson’s try cut the deficit.
But a Billy Twelvetrees penalty and Gareth Denman try sealed the game as Newcastle’s attack was blunted by a staunch Gloucester defence.
The defeat means Newcastle are without a league victory in two months while the club’s early-season momentum is fading quickly.
Top of the league for a brief spell in September, Newcastle are down to ninth and have scored just 30 points in their last three league games.
Considering they conceded almost that many last night, improvements – and returning international reinforcements – are required to arrest the slide.
The Falcons made five changes after last week’s 40-10 defeat at Wasps in pursuit of a change in fortune – not that it made much difference.
After both teams tentatively probed each other for weaknesses in the early stages, the visitors took control of the possession without offering any great threat.
It took 16 minutes from the first attack of real precision and that opened the scoring for Gloucester.
Wing Purdy broke the Falcons line and slipped a pass to centre Symons, who powered under the posts from close range.
The visitors looked to extend quickly and looked more purposeful when running with the.
And they didn’t have to wait very long as second rower Thrush went over in the left corner after a neat lineout move eight minutes later.
Already down 14-0 by this point, it took Newcastle 27 minutes to mount a meaningful attack.
After a lineout on the right wing, the ball flowed left until full-back Simon Hammersley powered forward and was stopped just inches from the try-line.
That inspired Newcastle’s best spell of pressure in the half but despite moving the ball across the field, they were unable to break down the visiting defence.
And Gloucester punished them with a third try courtesy of Purdy five minutes from the break.
Despite Newcastle having two men back, the 23-year-old’s chip wickedly evaded both, bouncing conveniently for him to touch down.
The Falcons were largely toothless before the interval but crucially got onto the scoreboard with the final move of the half.
After safely claiming a long lineout, the home pack set up the maul which Wilson finished off, cutting the gap to 19-7.
A sloppy restart handed Gloucester an easy penalty two minutes after the break, which Billy Twelvetrees converted.
To their credit, Newcastle rallied immediately but were still struggling to find any gaps in the visiting defence. The hosts were handed a temporary advantage when Twelvetrees was sent to the sin bin for kicking the ball out of Sam Stuart’s hands with Newcastle on the attack after 50 minutes.
But Dean Richards’ side were unable to reduce the deficit thanks to a combination of poor execution and a ferocious Gloucester defence.
Proper chances were few and far between in the second half but Gloucester grabbed a bonus-point try, with Denman scoring after a pick-and-go 12 minutes from time.
Twelvetrees added his third conversion of the night, taking his points total to nine.
As good as the visiting defence was, the Falcons’ lack of incisiveness with the ball was visible throughout and they rarely looked like securing a bonus point in either form.
Instead, Gloucester pinned Newcastle back late on without looking like adding a fifth try – not that they needed one.
Dean Richards’ side face Northampton Saints at Franklin Gardens next Friday for what looks like an increasingly important game.