Falcons tame Tigers in torrential downpours
In appalling weather conditions, it was the Tigers who made the early inroads, taking advantage of penalties from the Falcons over eagerness at the breakdown and handling errors from the gallons of water emptying from the skies above Kingston Park.
Scrum Half George Tressider made easy work of a kick from in front of the posts and with the wind to his back on 15 minutes to make the visitors efforts count and continued to look dangerous following the restart.
With a quarter of the game in the books the home side enjoyed their first spell of possession in a dangerous position and almost took advantage.
A well timed pass from Andy Goode to Zach Kibirige saw the winger use his strength to break through the middle before further contributions from Mourtiz Botha and Ruaridh Dawson took the hosts to the Tigers line.
That effort was halted but with a foothold in the Tigers 22, the Falcons were able to use their power to take the lead on the half hour mark as Ben Harris was driven over from close range after a series of scrums, earned through a combination of handling errors and Tigers indiscipline, give the hosts the opportunity they needed.
Goode converted the try with his final act of the game and despite the intent shown by both sides in the remaining ten minutes there would be no further points added before the break.
With the wind and rain to their backs the hosts also replenished their ranks with fresh personnel as Jamie Booth, Andrew Foster, Eric Fry, Santiago Socino and Will Witty replaced Dawson, Ben Harris, Alex Rogers, Rob Hawkins and Botha.
Their second try of the night was quick in coming after a penalty against Leicester’s Fred Tuilagi for a shoulder charge gave good field position. Looking to find space the younger Socino at the club put in an explosive run through the middle to drive over from 20m out.
Giamba Venditti was next to add his name to the score sheet as the Falcons put their feet down and ramped up the intensity.
Gaining a foothold in the Tigers 22 almost straight after the restart, the ball was spun out to the Italian, who showed all of his class by gathering superbly off the floor, before showing neat footwork to stay in play whilst alongside the far touchline and diving over to score.
With the conversion missed, the Tigers did their best to get back into the game, but were unable to make any telling breaks, despite enjoying a good spell of possession in the hosts half however the home side were able to retake the initiative and get back to the opposite end.
The bonus point try came with a quarter of an hour left to play and was another forward effort as Richard Mayhew guided a powerful maul over the line before dotting down.
While it was the forwards that scored the try, the opportunity was created by a brilliant kick from Tom Penny, that sat perfectly and forced the covering Tiger to gather and run into touch, giving an attacking line out for the Falcons to exploit.
With the wind and rain continuing in relentless fashion, the conversion was wide and as in the first half, despite further efforts from both side, neither could find a way to add to their tally
The result sets up an important fixture for the Falcons final northern conference game on March 28th, when they will travel to Kingsholm to face a currently undefeated Gloucester United.
