Leicester too strong for Newcastle

Editor

Three tries for Leicester Tigers saw them overpower a resilient Newcastle Falcons side 22-10 at Welford Road on Saturday.

An action packed first half saw two disallowed tries for Leicester. They eventually scored one from star back Telusa Veaniu, with Freddie Burns kicking five points. 

Newcastle also scored a solitary try through Nili Latu, with Craig Willis mirroring Burns' five points. 

Leicester sealed the win in the second half with two tries from Peter Betham and Laurence Pearce; with Burns kicking two points. The first action of the game came when Leicester tighthead Fraser Balmain was shown a yellow for a dangerous tackle, with Willis kicking the resulting penalty for Newcastle. 

That sin binning looked costly when Falcons scored the first try of the game a few minutes later through Latu after a powerful driving maul.

After some rugged try line defence from Newcastle, Leicester asserted themselves on the game. The pressure told when Falcons centre was binned for a tip tackle. 

Leicester looked to have taken advantage shortly after, but Veaniu's score was chalked off for a knock-on. But, in the build up to the disallowed score, Newcastle were reduced to thirteen men when Wilson was sinbinned. 

Veaniu eventually got his try a few minutes later, crossing the line against a very stretched Newcastle defence. Matthew Tait also fell victim to the TMO when his try was disallowed for a knock on. 

Leicester failed to add to their score to take the teams level 10-10 at the break. Leicester grabbed the first try of the second half with a try from Betham, with Burns adding the extras. 

The day got worse for Newcastle when Pearce crossed the line after running a fantastic support line, giving the scoreline a flattering look for the Tigers. 

The loss, coupled with a dramatic win for London Irish, sees Newcastle fall to the bottom of the Aviva Premiership table. On the other end of the scale, a tenth straight win for Leicester Tigers domestically and in Europe sees them continue to climb the table and challenge for a top four spot.

The scorers:

For Leicester:
Tries: Veainu, Betham, Pearce
Cons: Burns 2
Pen: Burns
Yellow Card: Balmain

For Newcastle:
Try: Latu
Con: Willis
Pen: Willis
Yellow Card: Wilson

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Laurence Pearce, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Ed Slater (c), 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Opeti Fonua, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Seremaia Bai 

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Belisario Agulla, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Michael Young, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Ally Hogg, 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Mark Wilson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Juan Pablo Socino 

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant Referees: Darren Gamage, Kelvin Stewart
TMO: Rowan Kitt