A euphoric North-East crowd showed their appreciation for Newcastle Falcons after they defeated a strong London Wasps outfit, at a rain-swept Kingston Park on Sunday.

Five Jimmy Gopperth penalties proved to be enough for the hosts in a game which saw new signing Corne Uys make his Falcons bow. The South African arrived on Tyneside amid an Indian summer last week, but the conditions on Sunday were in stark contrast.

In greasy conditions Alan Tait’s men stood firm to a barrage of Wasps pressure in injury time to record a welcome victory ahead of next week’s trip to Saracens.

And it was certainly a ‘how’s your nerves time’ as Dai Young’s unit threw everything they had at Newcastle in the closing stages of the match.

The home side surged into the lead on three minutes courtesy of a Gopperth penalty after the visitors were penalised for killing the ruck.

Wasps responded to their early set-back in positive fashion and crossed the whitewash moments later thanks to the blistering pace of Christian Wade. The wonderkid made good use of some space on the blindside to skip past the last defender for a converted try.

What followed was a war of attrition as both sides looked to unhinge their opposition’s rearguard until the Falcons went within a point of the Londoners on 20 minutes.

Kiwi Gopperth duly obliged with three points, smashing home a penalty from an acute angle following an infringement at the lineout.

And the Falcons No.10 was at it again on the stroke of half-time to give the Kingston Park outfit a narrow 9-7 interval lead. Sean Davey punished Wasps for pulling down a rolling maul.

On 47 minutes the Falcons extended their lead to 12-7 with the radar boot of Gopperth in fine fettle once more. A scrummaging offence from Wasps handed Gopperth the chance to arrow a 35 metre penalty through the uprights.  

This was before Ryan Davis closed the gap with a penalty success in front of the South Stand to pile on the pressure for the Falcons.

Two points behind, Wasps continued to chisel away at the Newcastle defensive line with the experienced heads of James Hudson, Ally Hogg and Tim Swinson leading by example to thwart a series of attacks.

With more than ten minutes left on the clock, referee Davey awarded the Falcons a crucial penalty in front of the posts. Wasps were penalised for leaving their feet at the ruck and Gopperth made no mistake to send the North East crowd into hysteria.

The tension was unbearable as the electronic clocks at both ends of the ground slowly counted down.

Wave after wave of attacks from the visitors caused a few Falcons’ fans hearts to flutter as supporters counted down to a crucial triumph for Tait’s troops.

With the clock at zero, the men from the capital kept the ball in field for two nail-biting minutes before Ally Hogg bundled his opponent over the whitewash to send the Kingston Park faithful into raptures.    

Scenes of jubilation ensued as Newcastle kick-started their Premiership campaign with a hard-fought win ahead of a date with Sarries next Sunday afternoon (kick-off 3pm). Following next week’s duel at Vicarage Road, the Falcons have a two week break from domestic action as they enter the LV= Cup group stages.

Games against Cardiff Blues (home) on Saturday 15 October and London Irish (away) on Sunday 23 October gives Newcastle a brief rest bite from the Premiership scene before kicking on against Northampton Saints (away) on Saturday 29 October.

Newcastle: A. Tait, Fielden, Uys, Helleur, Shortland, Gopperth, Chudley, Shiells, Graham, Wells, Hudson (c), Swinson, R. Mayhew, Welch, Hogg

Replacements: M. Mayhew, Fearn, Hall, Townson, Wilson, Pilgrim, Eves, Hodgson

London Wasps: Southwell, Varndell, Mayor, Bell, Wade, Davis, Berry, Payne, Webber, Broster, Birkett, Filipo, Launchbury, Poff, Hart (c)

Replacements: Lindsay, Castex, McIntyre, Burton, Everard, Holmes, Daly, Wallace