Newcastle Falcons 57 - 0 Cardiff Blues
Sat 11 November 17:00 Kingston Park Att: 3,746 Ref: Anthony Woodthorpe Anglo Welsh Cup

Newcastle Falcons 57 Cardiff Blues 0

Sat 11 Nov 2017 19:45 Newcastle Falcons 57 Cardiff Blues 0
The home side secured the bonus point with four first half tries, before going past the half-century mark in the second half.

Richard Hodges’ side take on Ospreys at Cardiff Arms Park next week, as they look to gain momentum ahead of a return to Guinness PRO14 action later in the month.

It was the visitors who dominated both possession and territory in the opening stages of the game, and their efforts were awarded as referee, Anthony Woodthorpe, whistled for a penalty. 

Jones stepped up but failed to open the scoring as his kick drifted wide of the left hand post.

Eight minutes into the game, Hodges’ side were dealt a blow as centre Jack Roberts was forced off with injury. He was replaced by Dan Fish, who made his long awaited return from injury.

Both sides showed intent to attack in the opening quarter, but the deadlock wasn’t broken until the 21st minute, when a Falcons’ move sliced open the Blues’ defence, allowing Michael Young to slide in.

It didn’t take long for the home side to grab their second of the evening. Despite good pressure by Owen Lane to close down France international Maxime Mermoz’s space, the centre managed to offload to Sinoti Sinoti, who evaded the tackles of Fish and Jones to run in, with Hodgson converting.

With momentum on their side, it was time for the powerful Newcastle pack to have impact on the match. 

The rampant driving maul proved to be a handful for the Blues’ defence, as they were penalised with a penalty try, before Mark Wilson touched down for his side’s fourth in the final play of the first half, to seal a bonus point before the interval.

The home side picked up where they left off, taking only a minute to cross the whitewash in the second half, as Adam Radwan showed his burst of pace to beat Harri Millard on the outside and run in for his side’s fifth of the evening.

Ben Jones launched a penalty into touch deep inside the Falcons’ 22, as his side looked to get the scoreboard going. But the ball was won against the throw allowing the home side to counter. 

They charged upfield, and despite good defence initially, Newcastle had the numbers lining up on the left, allowing Hodgson to dink behind and find Samoan international, Sinoti, who was away for his second of the evening.

With 55 minutes on the clock, a nice move down the blindside saw the home side open up the Blues defence once more, and a simple inside pass released the supporting Alex Tait to go past the 40-point mark, before Hodgson converted his own try to reach a half-century of points.

Replacement Gary Graham scored his side’s ninth try in the final minute of action.