Exeter Chiefs bounce back to beat Falcons
MATCH REPORT: Jack Nowell's quick thinking gave Exeter Chiefs a 24-5 win over Newcastle Falcons at Sandy Park.
Newcastle Falcons enjoyed a lot of first-half possession and territory at a blustery Sandy Park, but it took until the 21st minute for the visitors to make their pressure count.
Mateo Carreras finished superbly from the left wing for his 12th try of the season.
However, four minutes later and the hosts were level at 5-5 through hooker Dan Frost, who sneaked over from the back of a rolling maul to score his first Chiefs try in the Gallagher Premiership.
Ian Whitten and then Aidon Davies were both shown to the sin bin either side of half time, but Falcons could not take advantage.
Instead it was the home side who edged in front, as Nowell took a quick tap penalty to go over and Harvey Skinner slotted the conversion to make it 12-5.
A penalty try extended their lead to 14 points, when a maul was collapsed illegally at the start of the final quarter.
Sam Simmonds added gloss to the victory with a bonus point try with eight minutes remaining.
The scorers:
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Frost, Nowell, Simmonds, Penalty
Cons: Skinner
For Newcastle Falcons:
Try: Carreras
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (captain); 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 Richard Palframan, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Pete Lucock, 23 Iwan Stephens
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Jack Nowell (captain), 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Sam Maunder; 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jack Dunne, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Referee: Tom Foley
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