Falcons end 20-year hoodoo with dramatic last-second victory
NEWCASTLE claimed a dramatic stoppage-time victory at Welford Road to deny Leicester and keep themselves firmly in the Aviva Premiership play-off race.
Number eight Ally Hogg’s try, which was reviewed at length by the television match official, and replacement Sonatane Takulua’s kick, edged Newcastle home 25-23.
It took them third in the table with one game left as ex-Leicester wing Vereniki Goneva scored two tries to haunt his old team.
Fly-half Joel Hodgson added a conversion and penalty and Juan Pablo Socino landed a penalty.
But the match could so easily have gone the other way thanks to tries from wing Jonny May and lock Mike Fitzgerald plus 13 points from fly-half George Ford’s boot.
The win means Newcastle and Wasps are favourites to join Exeter and Saracens in the semi-finals.
Newcastle claimed the opening points through Goneva, who broke clear from the base of a ruck 40 metres out for a superb solo score that Hodgson converted.
Leicester responded impressively as centre Manu Tuilagi managed to send May over.
Ford kicked the touchline conversion to make it 7-7, yet Newcastle quickly regained the lead when Hodgson booted a penalty.
Ford tied things up with a penalty, but the injury count began to mount up for Newcastle as Hodgson limped off to follow earlier injury departures of Scott Wilson and Sean Robinson.
A second Ford penalty edged Leicester ahead nine minutes before the break but a Socino penalty, making it 13-13 at the interval.
Leicester thought they had regained the lead early in the second period but referee Luke Pearce ruled a Tigers knock-on.
It was a short reprieve though as Fitzgerald soon stretched out to claim a try that Ford converted.
Ford’s third penalty eased Tigers’ nerves, and although Goneva scored a second 11 minutes from the end, it still looked all up for Newcastle.
That was until Hogg and Takulua came up trumps to end Newcastle’s 20-year wait for a win at Welford Road after Tigers forward Sione Kalamafoni was sin-binned.