Exiles march past slow-starting Falcons

Irish book a date with Gloucester as Newcastle leave it late

London Irish booked a date with Gloucester in the European Challenge Cup final courtesy of a dramatic 27-22 victory over the slow-starting Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on Sunday.

Trailing 27-3 with 12 minutes of normal time left, the Falcons scored three tries through Ben Woods, Tom May and Mathew Tait to come within a whisker of stealing this semi-final at Kingston Park, but the locals were unable to undo the damage that the Exiles had wrought during the first hour of this semi-final encounter.

Victory for the home team would have been undeserved as London Irish dominated the game and looked by far the better side, especially in the line-out and at the breakdown.

Matt Burke landed a first-minute penalty and was wide with a second after eight minutes from the same spot.

In between, Mike Catt's two crossfield kicks asked some questions of the Falcons defence but on both occasions the Newcastle cover took out the receiver on the touchline.

London Irish took the lead when hooker Robbie Russell burst through after several phases of play but there was a hint of knock on as locks Bob Casey and Kieran Roche off-loaded.

Riki Flutey converted to make it 7-3 and then kicked a 20th-minute penalty before Topsy Ojo wriggled through for London Irish's second try 10 minutes later which again was tinged with controversy as two Falcons players were taken out.

Rob Andrew then brought on Jonny Wilkinson on the half-hour for David Walder and it sparked Newcastle's best spell with Anthony Elliott cutting through from Wilkinson's long pass and Burke sending Tom May clear.

It seemed the winger had to score but somehow Delon Armitage got to him five metres from the line to prevent the try.

The ball was recycled and Burke tried to get through. London Irish were penalised for offside but, when Mathew Tait tried to take it quickly, he knocked on which summed up the half for Newcastle.

A long penalty by Flutey set up a line-out right on the Newcastle line but there was some amazing defence from the Falcons to stifle the drive and several phases before a penalty for not releasing ended the pressure.

Newcastle then launched a pulsating series of attacks with Elliott, Wilkinson, Burke and Colin Charvis prominent.

And, as James Grindal appeared to score, referee Nigel Owens brought Newcastle back and gave them a penalty much to the disgust of the Kingston Park crowd.

Wilkinson kicked to the corner and it was all the more disappointing for Newcastle when they threw it long at the line-out and London Irish won the ball to clear.

Newcastle were pressing hard but they ran out of ideas in midfield and, when they pushed it wide, they turned over the ball and Sailosi Tagicakibau raced in for the third try.

The match seemed all over when Gonzalo Tiesi surged through some woeful defence after Newcastle again lost their own throw at a line-out and at, 27-3, it seemed London Irish could start booking their tickets for final.

Then Wilkinson threw out a long pass and McCarthy thundered 50 metres up the touchline and delivered the perfect inside pass for Ben Woods to score and Wilkinson hammered over the conversion from the touchline.

Burke released May who flashed over in the corner for the Falcons second try to make it 27-15 and, in the third minute of stoppage time, Tait cut through to score and Wilkinson's conversion made it 27-22.

In the eighth minute of stoppage time, Newcastle drove a line-out and crashed over the line but the television match official ruled the ball had been held up.

The scorers:

For Newcastle Falcons:
Tries: Tait, May, Woods
Cons: Wilkinson 2  
Pen: Burke  

For London Irish:
Tries: Tiesi, Russell, Tagicakibau, Ojo  
Cons: Flutey 2  
Pen: Flutey  

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

London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Mike Catt (c), 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Riki Flutey, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Phil Murphy, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Kieran Roche, 4 Bob Casey, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 Robbie Russell, 1 Neal Hatley.
Replacements: 16 Michael Collins, 17 David Paice, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Nick Kennedy, 20 Kieron Dawson, 21 Darren Edwards, 22 Shane Geraghty.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)