Forceful comeback for Mitchell's men
Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:07
The Western Force has scored a come-from-behind 25-15 victory over Guinness Premiership outfit Newcastle Falcons at a slippery Kingston Park in Newcastle.
Trailing 5-8 at the half-time break, the West Australian side scored two second half tries through centre Junior Pelesasa and dominated the line-out and breakdown to secure their first win on English soil.
Newcastle opened the scoring in the second minute with a Rob Miller penalty.
In the 15th minute a poor kicking option from Western Force fullback Dane Haylett-Petty resulted in a vacant short side, where some slick Newcastle passing saw outside centre Tom Dylan cross for a try in the corner. Miller's conversion was unsuccessful - but Newcastle had a 8-0 lead.
It was not till the 39th minute that the Western Force got on the scoreboard - a try by Matt Hodgson from a pick and drive five metres from the tryline. It was set up by an incisive run by wing Scott Staniforth and some nice hands by Haylett-Petty. James O'Connor's conversion was unsuccessful and Newcastle took a 8-5 lead into the break.
The visitors took the lead for the first time in the 44th minute, with a try to the Western Force's Junior Pelesasa. Matt Hodgson forced a turnover, before a freakish flick pass from Chris O'Young to James O'Connor put the flyhalf into the clear.
O'Connor grubbered ahead with a clever kick, where Junior Pelesasa swooped on the ball after a fumble by the Newcastle fullback. Pelesasa sprinted 30 metres to the tryline to score the go-ahead try. O'Connor's conversion gave Western Force a 12-8 lead.
That lead was stretched to 19-8 in the 52nd minute with a try to the Western Force by Junior Pelesasa. Pelesasa scored his second after David Pocock sent a superb flat pass from a stolen line-out win to send Pelesasa charging through a gap to race 25 metres to score untouched under the posts. O'Connor's added the conversion.
Repeated ruck infringements by the Western Force resulted in a yellow card to prop AJ Whalley, before the referee awarded a penalty try to Newcastle. Rob Miller added the conversion to narrow the gap to 19-15.
James O'Connor landed penalties in the 62nd and 65th minutes and the Force held on for a deserved 25-15 win.
Scorers:
Newcastle Falcons:
Tries: Dylan, penalty try
Con: Miller
Pen: Miller
Western Force:
Tries: Pelesasa 2, Hodgson
Cons: O'Connor 2
Pens: O'Connor 2
Yellow card: AJ Whalley (Western Force, 60 - repeated ruck infringements)
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Tom May, 14 Ollie Phillips, 13 Tom Dillon, 12 Spencer Davey, 11 John Rudd, 10 Rob Miller, 9 James Grindal, 8 Phil Dowson (captain), 7 Brent Wilson, 6 Adam Balding, 5 Mark Sorenson,
4 Andy Buist, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Andy Long, 1 Micky Ward.
Replacements - from: Joe McDonnell, David Wilson, Rob Vickers, Matt Thompson, Andy Perry, Geoff Parling, Tim Swinson, Russell Winter, Ed Williamson, Micky Young, Hall Charlton, Steve Jones, Alex Tait, Tim Visser, Danny Williams.
Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Josh Tatupu, 12 Junior Pelesasa, 11 Haig Sare, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Chris O'Young, 8 Tamaiti Horua, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Valeni Tia Tia, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 AJ Whalley, 2 Luke Holmes, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Tom Murday, 19 Filipe Manu, 20 Justin Turner, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Caleb Brown.
Date: Friday, August, 8
Venue: Kingston Park, Newcastle
Kick-off: 20.00 (19.00 GMT; 03.00 Saturday 9 August Western Australia)
Referee: Rob Debney
