Falcons too strong for Welsh

Editor

Newcastle Falcons were comfortable winners at Kingston Park on Sunday, dispatching London Welsh with a 38-7 victory.

Tries from Sinoti Sinoti, Rob Vickers, Mike Blair and Will Welch eased the Falcons into a 24-7 advantage at the break, while Welsh’s response in the first half came through Nick Scott’s touchdown.

Ally Hogg went over to add to the pain for the Exiles early in the second period.

Although the home side only scored one more try through Tom Catterick, it was more than enough to secure their fourth league victory of the campaign.

A game against Newcastle perhaps offered the visitors one of their last chances of a Premiership victory this season.

Their relegation back to the Championship appears inevitable but they showed glimpses in last weekend’s 24-13 defeat to Harlequins that they are improving.

However, that form didn’t extend to Kingston Park where the Falcons made all the early running.

To Welsh’s credit, it took until 15 minutes into the game for the first try to be scored but, when it did come, the floodgates duly opened.

Sinoti touched down for the hosts after a five-metre scrum in the opposition 22 before a dominant driving maul resulted in Vickers going over.

From the kickoff, the hosts started another productive attack and, after good work from their Samoan wing and Mark Wilson, Blair went over unopposed.

The Exiles hit back through Scott when he latched onto Will Robinson’s kick through, but Welch’s effort secured the bonus-point and meant the Tyneside-based outfit went into the interval 24-7 ahead.

Justin Burnell’s men halted the scoring at the start of the second period, but they were eventually breached for a fifth time when Hogg rampaged down the right touchline.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort and London Welsh continued to battle for the rest of the encounter, but they couldn’t break down the Falcons’ defence.

Instead, Newcastle had the final word through Catterick as they sealed the win that their play in the last few weeks deserved.

The scorers:

For Newcastle:
Tries: Sinoti, Vickers, Blair, Welch, Hogg, Catterick
Cons: Catterick 4

For Welsh:
Try: Scott
Con: Robinson

For Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alex Tait, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Calum Green, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Riki Tipuna, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Alesana Tuilagi

For London Welsh: 15 Will Robinson, 14 Elliot Kear, 13 Tom May (c), 12 Seb Jewell, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Piri Weepu, 9 Paul Rowley, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Pete Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Ben West, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Nathan Trevett
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Ricky Reeves, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Richard Thorpe, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Olly Barkley, 23 Seb Stegmann.

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Roger Baileff, Andy Watson
TMO: David Grashoff