Sevens Glory For Falcons
Newcastle Falcons won their first silverware of the season at Welford Road on Friday, as they won the Leicester leg of the JP Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s.
The Falcons won all three of their games, beating Sale Sharks, Leeds Carnegie and hosts Leicester Tigers to lift the trophy on the night and claim a place in the national finals at Bath on Friday August 6.
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 19 LEICESTER TIGERS 7

The Falcons opened the scoring in their first match of the night against hosts Leicester Tigers as Charlie Amesbury ran the ball in from 60 metres, Aaron Myers having forced a turnover with some scavenging work at the breakdown as Amesbury scooped up the loose ball.

Jack Smales added the conversion, but the sides were level within three minutes as fly half George Ford shimmied and went through from close range for a converted try.

Amesbury put the Falcons back into the lead with a first phase try from a five-metre scrum, the winger outpacing the home defence to dive just inside the right corner flag for a 12-7 half-time lead.

A Jack Smales try-saver thwarted the home attack, and with the Falcons increasingly in the ascendancy they drew some daylight between the two sides when Steve Parsons ran in a 50-metre score down the left hand side - Smales adding the touchline conversion for a 19-7 victory.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 19 SALE SHARKS 12

The Falcons got off to a flying start in their second match of the night just eight minutes after the finish of their first outing, when Tyson Lewis took an inside ball and pumped his legs for a converted score down the right hand side.

Ed Stobart levelled matters with a powerfully-taken converted try under the posts from short range, but almost straight from the restart Fred Burdon put Newcastle back in front as he latched on to Aaron Myers' pass from Tyson Lewis' line break for a 14-7 half-time lead.

Parsons extended the gap with a jinking finish in the right corner, but Sale pulled the deficit back to just seven as Tom Taylor crossed for the Sharks' second try. With Newcastle holding out well though there was no further score.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 17 LEEDS CARNEGIE 12

In the crucial deciding game the Falcons got off to the ideal start as Fred Burdon wriggled over for a try in the right corner in the opening minutes to assume a 5-0 advantage.

Steve Parsons doubled that lead with an 80-metre counter attack score down the right, profiting from yet more superb foraging work from Aaron Myers at the breakdown.

Leeds hit back with a converted try from No.8 Oli Denton after a hack through, taking the half-time score to 10-7 in Newcastle's favour.

The Yorkshiremen then snatched the momentum and the lead in the opening minutes of the second half, Curtis Wilson taking an offload and powering over the try line to pinch a 12-10 lead.

Despite the clock ticking down the Falcons kept their patience, and they were rewarded when a period of sustained attack saw Jack Harrison touch down from Aaron Myers' run down the right flank.

Persistent late defence from Newcastle ensured they negotiated the closing minutes safely, as a relieving final whistle signalled their first silverware of the season.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: 1 Steve Parsons, 2 Aaron Myers, 3 Sam Shires, 4 Jack Smales, 5 Peter Jericevich, 6 Michael Tait, 7 Charlie Amesbury, 8 Sep Visser, 9 Jack Harrison, 10 Mike Ward, 11 Tyson Lewis, 12 Fred Burdon.

LEICESTER TIGERS: 1 Liam Holder, 2 Jimmy Stevens, 3 Dave Hughes, 4 Rob Conquest, 5 Hamish Watson, 6 Stephen Macaulay, 7 Matt Everard, 8 Tom Armes, 9 Christophe Ridley, 10 George Ford, 11 Luke Veebel, 12 Rory Lynn.

LEEDS CARNEGIE: 1 Oli Stedman, 2 Joe Barker, 3 Richard Beck, 4 Alex Reider, 5 Alex Black, 6 Toby Quarendon, 7 James Twomey, 8 Oli Denton, 9 Rob Almond, 10 Curtis Wilson, 11 Tom Barrett, 12 Christian Georgiou.

SALE SHARKS: 1 Luke Raselala, 2 Josh Fowles, 3 Henry Thomas, 4 Asaeli Boko, 5 Charlie Baraleria, 6 Ben Davey, 7 David Tait, 8 Tom Taylor, 9 Will Cliff, 10 James Lewis, 11 Eliot Brierley, 12 Ed Stobart.

7.30pm Sale Sharks 33 Leeds Carnegie 7
7.55pm Newcastle Falcons 19 Leicester Tigers 7
8.25pm Newcastle Falcons 19 Sale Sharks 12
8.50pm Leeds Carnegie 33 Leicester Tigers 26
9.20pm Sale Sharks 33 Leicester Tigers 10
9.45pm Newcastle Falcons 17 Leeds Carnegie 12

Attendance: 6,497

This article was originally posted on 24-Jul-2010, 17:00 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 25-Jul-2010, 09:30.