Connacht sunk by Newcastle Flood

Young fly-half steals the show

Newcastle progressed to the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup with a comfortable win over Connacht on Friday, thanks to a commanding performance from 20-year-old fly-half Toby Flood.

Flood landed two first-half penalties, and brilliantly converted his own try from the touchline after 20 minutes to send Newcastle into an early 13-0 lead, which proved unassailable in boggy conditions.

Flood added another penalty and converted Mike McCarthy's late try for the final score.

It was a good, solid game, particularly as the conditions might have rendered it a dour slugfest. It was heavy underfoot in the first half, and the rain lashed down for the entirety of the second forty minutes.

The teams came out with nicely contrasting tactics though; Connacht using the centres to bash it up wide from the scrum and make the defenders run the hard yards in retreat, while Newcastle preferred to sap their opponents' energy by making tackle after tackle at close range.

The home team's tactics worked better: by the time twenty minutes was up Newcastle had enjoyed 67 per cent of the possession and had forced Connacht's defence into an astonishing 51 tackles, compared to their own 18.

Connacht's centres were running straight and trues, but their back-row was bogged down by the mud, and the ball was too slow or was turned over. Thus Newcastle swiftly gained the upper hand.

The over-riding stat of the match by twenty minutes was that Newcastle had 100 per cent of the points, in the shape of a 10-0 lead. Flood had kicked an easy penalty early on after Connacht were caught slowing the ball down, and then he hacked ahead a turnover ball and showed terrific pace in the heavy ground over 60m, before dribbling the ball deftly over the line and falling awkwardly on it. The touchline conversion was also exceptional in the drizzly breeze.

What really made the difference, right throughout the game, was Flood's ability to get over the gain-line with the ball in both hands. The ball would nearly always go inside, according very much to a game-plan, but Newcastle's support runners and Flood's dexterity kept Connacht guessing and on tip-toes in defence, much in contrast to Connacht's rather less subtle attacking technique.

Flood increased the lead after 25 minutes with another penalty, but it heralded Connacht's best spell of the match. First Mark McHugh ran back a Mat Burke chip superbly into the Newcastle 22, forcing a penalty which Paul Warwick sliced to the right.

Then, after Warwick had registered what was to be Connacht's only points with a penalty, scrum-half Chris Keane went close to registering a try, but his chip was well-covered by Hall Charlton.

Then came half-time, and with it, the change in weather that nullified all tactics. As the rain thrashed the pitch and players, so the game quickly descended into the war of attrition which was right up Newcastle's street.

On the hour mark, after a sustained spell of forward pressure coupled with another pair of Flood-inspired darts, Newcastle forced a line-out 5m from the Connacht line.

Geoff Parling - outstanding all night - caught safely, the maul drove left, and Mike McCarthy peeled off right to plunge over the line. Flood's wide conversion was brilliant once again, and put the game far beyond Connacht's reach at 20-3.

Flood sealed the win with a penalty after Michael Swift had been sin-binned for killing the ball with five minutes to go.

The scorers:

For Newcastle:
Tries: Flood, McCarthy
Cons: Flood 2
Pens: Flood 3

For Connacht:
Pen: Warwick

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Matthew Burke, 14 Tom May, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mark Mayerhofler, 11 Anthony Elliott, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Hall Charlton, 8 Colin Charvis (captain), 7 Cory Harris, 6 Mike McCarthy, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Luke Gross, 3 Micky Ward, 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Jonny Williams.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Morris, 17 Andy Long, 18 Andy Perry, 19 Owen Finegan, 20 Ben Woods, 21 James Grindal, 22 Dave Walder.

Connacht: 15 Mark McHugh, 14 Matt Mostyn, 13 Andrew Mailei, 12 Keith Mathews, 11 Conor McPhillips, 10 David Slemen/Paul Warwick, 9 Chris Keane, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 Matt Lacey, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Andrew Farley, 4 David Gannon, 3 Stephen Knoop, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Ray Hogan.
Replacements: 16 Joesph Merrigan, 17 Adrian Clarke, 18 Christian Short, 19 Michael Swift, 20 Tom Tierney, 21 Paul Warwick/David Slemen/Ted Robinson, 22 Gavin Williams.

Referee: Eric Darriere (France)