NewcastleFalcons vs Bath Rugby - Programme - 05/11/2022

With less than three minutes to go to half-time Jim Naylor
scored the Falcons’ second try after Pat Lam had stolen Northampton
lineout ball to take the score to 18-12 at the break. Naylor
had been dropped by Woodward from the England squad
and may have felt that he had something to prove as he scored
his second try on 52 minutes, Stimpson’s conversion taking the
score to 25-12.
The Saints enjoyed a brief period of ascendancy before a Lam
try effectively killed the game off. There was still time for Nick
Popplewell to score a fifth try for the Falcons, with Stimpson
adding the conversion.
The Falcons team that night was: T.Stimpson; J.Naylor; V.Tuigamala;
A.Tait; J.Bentley; R.Andrew, G.Armstrong; N.Popplewell;
R.Nesdale; P.Van Zandvliet; G.Archer; D.Weir; P.Lam; R.Arnold;
D.Ryan (Capt).
The victories over Bath and Northampton represented the
start of a stellar run which saw the Falcons go unbeaten in the
league until mid-March 1998 en-route to the Premiership
title. Kingston Park proved something of a fortress, with
all nine matches played there (along with two played at
Gateshead Stadium) resulting in home wins.
100TH MATCH – NOVEMBER 10, 2006
NEWCASTLE 3-14 NEC HARLEQUINS
If the first home Premiership match at Kingston
Park lived long in the memory, the same could
hardly be said of the 100th.
The Premiership was now sponsored by Guinness
and Rob Andrew had been replaced as director of
rugby by John Fletcher. Going into the game the
Falcons sat in tenth place courtesy of home
wins over Worcester and Bristol, and losing
bonus points at Northampton and at home
to London Irish. Quins sat one place below
them with just one win to their name.
A major effort by the club’s marketing
team ensured a capacity crowd of
10,004 on a miserably wet Friday night,
but there was little to entertain or
encourage them to return. To make
matters worse the match was
beamed live by Sky. Injuries to
both Jonny Willkinson and
Toby Flood meant that
Gavin Beasley was given a
debut at fly-half.
The quality of the match
probably reflected
the two sides’ lowly
positions as the
Falcons spilled ball,
kicked badly and
stood off tackles.
The Falcons’ sole points came from a Matt Burke penalty
which gave the home side a 3-0 lead on 30 minutes, but weak
tackling allowed Quins in for tries before half-time through
David Strettle and Nick Easter, both converted by Adrian Jarvis.
The second half lacked both entertainment and points as the
Falcons slipped into the bottom two.
Things were to improve slightly for both clubs in the second
half of the season with Quins rising to finish seventh, while the
Falcons moved up to ninth. It was the Falcons’ form at Kingston
Park which saved them from a relegation battle as they won
eight of eleven home fixtures, but managed just one victory
on their travels – at Sale (26-18) in November. Not surprisingly,
none of the Falcons who had played in that first Premiership
match at Kingston Park were still at the club.
The team that day was: M.Burke (Capt); T.May; M.Tait;
M.Mayerhofler (rep J.Shaw 67); J.Rudd; T.Flood; J.Grindal
(rep. L.Dickson 44); J.Golding (rep R.Morris 47); A.Long
(rep M.Thompson 63); D.Wilson; A.Perry; J.Oakes (rep
M.McCarthy 41); G.Parling; B.Woods; B.Wilson. (rep C.Harris
53).
200TH MATCH – DECEMBER 4, 2016
NEWCASTLE 38-32 HARLEQUINS
Harlequins were once again the visitors for the 200th
Premiership match at Kingston Park, and this time a crowd
of 6,054 were treated to one of the best games seen on
the ground.
Dean Richards was now director of rugby and the
Premiership was now sponsored by Aviva. 2016-17 was
to prove something of a breakthrough campaign for
the Falcons after three successive seasons of finishing
11th.
Going into this game they had won four from nine including
impressive wins on the road at Gloucester and Northampton.
They would eventually finish eighth, two places but just three
points behind Quins in sixth.
Gavin Beasley gets to grips with Harlequins
Quins came into the game in decent form with just one defeat
in their previous four, and they opened the scoring with a
seventh-minute penalty from future Falcon Tim Swiel. The
Falcons responded with a 12th-minute try from Michael Young
which Joel Hodgson converted, but Quins regained their lead
when Rob Buchanan went over for an unconverted try after
18 minutes.
The programme from the 100th Premiership
game played at Kingston Park
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