Gary Gold admits he was pleased with his side’s effort and commitment during Saturday’s LV= Cup defeat at Leicester Tigers.
Gold, who took charge of his second match as the Falcons’ new director of rugby had reason to be encouraged despite losing 24-13 in blizzard conditions.
“The boys showed good character against a top team but there is still a lot of work to be done,” Gold told the gathering media at Welford Road.
“We never gave up and I am very proud of the guys for sticking in,” he added.
As with much of the country, the East Midlands was hit by a flurry of snow which fell during the game but Gold refused to use the adverse weather conditions as an excuse.
He said: “The conditions were the same for both teams so we cannot use that as an excuse. They were as difficult for them as they were for us.”
Newcastle responded well to being 19-6 behind at the break with Jimmy Gopperth’s try ten minutes from time a high note for the rejigged coaching set-up.
Gopperth, fresh from signing a three year contract extension at Kingston Park celebrated his new deal in style with a well-worked touchdown.
Replacement scrum-half Will Chudley was the architect, showing good vision to unleash Gopperth on the angle and the Kiwi scooted in under the posts.
“I thought we ran the ball in the right areas of the field and we scored a well-worked try,” said Gold, who now prepares his side for next Saturday’s Premiership trip to Bath.
He added: “We recycled the ball well in the build-up to the try and if we had used the ball a little bit better we might have got more reward.
“I was obviously not happy with the result but I thought we scrambled well from a defensive point of view. Leicester are a good team who are well-drilled and we are scrapping at the moment.”
With the Scarlets progressing from the Falcons’ pool, Gold can now focus on securing top-flight rugby for the North-East outfit as next weekend’s date at Bath looms large.
Following the Bath game Gold faces his former club London Irish at Kingston Park in what is being billed as a crucial game for the Falcons.
Tickets for the Irish game are available by calling the Falcons Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060 or click here to purchase online.
