Falcons fall to agonising loss as Quins edge thriller
NEWCASTLE Falcons suffered opening-day heartache as they lost 40-31 to Harlequins in a dramatic clash at Kingston Park.
Dave Walder’s men struck first through hooker George Mcguigan before the away side soon responded with Andre Green and Wilco Louw going over.
Adam Radwan and Nathan Earle registered sublime solo scores to give the hosts a three-point halftime lead but Quins scored twice in quick succession through George Head and Lennox Anyanwu.
Tries from Mcguigan and Logovi’i Mulipola threatened to give Falcons a shock win but Quins skipper Alex Dombrandt powered his way over before Joe Marchant put the icing on the cake on a nervy but deserved victory for last year’s semi-finalists.
Falcons drew first blood after 13 minutes, with Mcguigan powering over from close range after winning a penalty for offside five metres out.
It did not take long for Quins to respond as Green danced his way through a couple of challenges to dot down under the posts before Louw barrelled his way over after 25 minutes to extend Tabai Matson’s side’s lead.
Newcastle’s reply was even more emphatic than their visitors, with Radwan and former Quin Earle both racing home from inside the Falcons half in a frenetic first half.
Five minutes after the interval, Quins retook the lead as Newcastle were penalised close to their line.
Head was the beneficiary as he went over from a maul and Tommy Allan was on target for the third time with the conversion.
The bonus point was secured for the visitors through Anyanwu, who capped a superb move that he had started inside the Quins in-goal area.
Centre Anyanwu offloaded to Nick David who burst through before the ball found its way back to Anyanwu, who hared after his own chip, beat Mcguigan to the loose ball and dotted down for a memorable score.
Mcguigan was never too far away from the action and bulldozed his way through for his second as Newcastle secured the try bonus point.
Mulipola then crossed after a period of sustained pressure from the home side as Falcons fans started to believe that it was their day.
But Harlequins again came back, this time through Dombrandt who used his physicality to hold off two defenders to power over with four minutes remaining.
The win was then sealed with under a minute on the clock.
Radwan and the Falcons went in desperate search of an end-to-end try and the loose ball was gathered by England star Marchant who went over in the left corner as the scoring finally came to a close on a memorable afternoon in Newcastle.