14-man Newcastle dig deep to secure victory
FULL-BACK Elliott Obatoyinbo shimmied and dived over for the late winning try as 14-man Newcastle put in the shift of their season to get a dogged and deserved victory and end Gloucester’s distant play-off hopes.
Wing Adam Radwan scored in the first-half and fly-half Brett Connon added seven points from the tee as Falcons fought back from tighthead Richard Palframan’s early sending off to win in determined fashion, helping revitalise the club after a fraught week.
It caps a turbulent seven days for the Kingston Park side, with Director of Rugby Dave Walder leaving imminently after contract negotiations stalled, and various rumours circling the club before the red card and early injuries to internationals Jamie Blamire and Matias Orlando.
Interim head coach Mark Laycock said: “I’m so proud. The boys have dug in so deep in the past week, it’s a result for everyone involved in the club.
“Attitudes have remained strong this week, you can’t teach or coach that. We’ve got an abundance of that within the group and it’s a great foundation for us moving forward to the rest of the season.”
On the early red card Laycock added: “It was tough when Palframan went off after 17 minutes, but we had a similar situation earlier in the season against Saracens so we knew what we had to do to stay in the fight.
“I put that challenge to the boys, to go one better. We lost some keys guys to injury but it shows the character of the boys and testament to them. We knew it would be a long 15 minutes at the end, once we took the lead, but they dug deep with world class scramble defence.”
With both teams on a dip in league form, and coming off the back of a rest week, there was an unsurprising stop-start nature from kick-off.
Gloucester drew first blood; a messy tap penalty from scrum-half Stephen Varney to Seb Blake saw the hooker power over the whitewash.
Falcons responded from deep, and Obatoyinbo’s fast feet put several defenders into a dance as he jinxed past four before a long pass wide to Radwan who shot down the flank to score in the corner.
Palframan received his first ever red card for a high tackle on Gloucester lock Freddie Clarke and within 60 seconds the Cherry and Whites produced a training ground move from a lineout on Falcons’ five-metre line; openside Lewis Ludlow taking it off the shoulder direct to wing Ollie Thorley who bundled over.
It was all Gloucester but the West Country side couldn’t capitalise, Thorley looked to have scored off a loose ball on the 24th minute but for the most audacious cover deadball tap from a swooping Radwan.
Crucially Newcastle dropped to seven forwards and kept their back-three intact, which proved to be a masterstroke as time and again their scramble defence held firm.
Gloucester blindside Jordy Reid looked to have scored from a Louis Rees-Zammit break, but for a reviewed knock-on at the half-hour mark.
Connon narrowed the score on the cusp of half-time and Falcons absorbed plenty on pressure in the second-half before a Radwan break deep into Gloucester territory, with Mateo Carreras crossfield kick finding Obatoyinbo, shuffling past Santi Carreras to score.
Connon missed a penalty on the 70th minute, keeping the game within one score and the error-strewn Cherry and Whites had more chances, breaking Falcons line twice but Newcastle’s scramble defence, particularly their back-three proved mighty, and a solid scrum on their own five-metre line at the death secured the win.