Success of the rejuvenated Falcons is just so Rich-ly deserved

I HAVE been well chuffed at the rise and rise of Newcastle’s other sporting club the Falcons.

They capped a tremendous run of consecutive victories when making it six on the bounce in all competitions by beating their most illustrious opponents, champions and league leaders Exeter Chiefs, at a delirious Kingston Park.

I have an awful lot of time for Falcons’ head coach Dean Richards along with his assistant Dave Walder and owner Semore Kurdi, while I also got to know back-again Toby Flood when he was in his England pomp.

So their successes after a rocky road from their halcyon days just after rugby union went professional has delighted me no end. There are a lot of good folk at Kingston Park.

Special praise, however, must go to the front men Kurdi and Richards because any club must be led from the top.

It would have been easy to kneejerk and get rid of Richards early days - but instead Semore stuck with his man and one has rewarded the other.

The most significant of much investment was the installation of an artificial 3G pitch two summers ago which has enabled the Falcons’ players to take the ball in hand no matter what the vagaries of the North East weather.

Exeter had won their last seven in the league and Richards hailed the effort of his troops in battling out a 28-20 victory as “magnificent.”

It turned out to be a grand old weekend with Newcastle United progressing to the fourth round of the FA Cup just 24 hours earlier.