Scrum boys give Joel his shot at redemption
Newcastle …16pts
Tries: Socino 22
Conversions: Delany 24
Penalties: Hodgson 46, 65, 81
Gloucester …14pts
Tries: May 37, Marshall 48
Conversions: Twelvetrees 38, 49
FLY-HALF Joel Hodgson kicked a last-gasp penalty to snatch victory for Newcastle and keep alive their Champions Cup hopes.
It was a crunch match at Kingston Park on Friday night with both sides looking to further their claim for a top six spot.
Gloucester seemed to have it sewn up leading 14- 10 with just 15 minutes to play after well-worked tries from Jonny May and Tom Marshall – but Hodgson kicked a 66th-minute penalty to cut the lead to just one point and set up a frantic finish.
Newcastle piled on the pressure at scrum time just inside the Gloucester half and earned a penalty against the feed. With the clock showing no time remaining, Hodgson kept his nerve to stick the ball between the uprights and earn Falcons a vital victory.
Hodgson said: “It's nice to be on the other end of the script after my miss against Leicester earlier in the season! You get all the credit when you're the kicker, but that one was won by the boys in the front row with that huge scrum at the end.
“Massive shout out to those lads; they dug deep and provided exactly what we wanted against a very experienced Gloucester front row. That win's for them, definitely.”
Newcastle dominated possession in the opening half hour and were rewarded with a 27th minute try from Argentine Juan Pablo Socino.
Winger Vereniki Goneva was proving too hot to handle for Gloucester, who had to scrap to keep him out on three occasions. His forays saw Falcons set up camp in the Cherry and Whites' half and it was Socino who crashed through the defence following a powerful driving maul.
Just before the break, Gloucester hit back with a line-out drive of their own and the ball was worked across field for May to dart low between Goneva and Alex Tait to score in the corner. Billy Twelvetrees levelled the scores with the conversion.
Hodgson, on at 10 for Mike Delany at the break, kicked an early second-half penalty but a piece of individual brilliance from Marshall put Gloucester 14- 10 up in the 48th minute.
The full-back stabbed the ball through to split the Newcastle defence and then won the race to touch down for a try. Twelvetrees' second conversion made it 14-10 to Gloucester.
Newcastle came again and looked certain to take the lead when Marcus Watson surged through the middle on a brilliant sidestepping run, but he just could not get the final pass away to Goneva.
Hodgson's penalty, after an offside call, cut the gap to just one point and Lloyd Evans made a high tackle on the Falcons fly-half that resulted in a sin-binning in the 71st minute.
Goneva put Newcastle on the front foot with a searing run out of defence but the home side looked to be out of time when they knocked on just outside the Gloucester 22 with the clock closing in on full-time.
But the Falcons forwards turned the screw in the scrum, forcing Gloucester to concede a penalty on their own feed and allow Hodgson to become the hero with the final kick of the game.
CLOSE-UP
VERENIKI GONEVA Newcastle winger JONNY MAY Gloucester winger
It was a high calibre battle between these two operators but Vereneki Goneva just edged it for his industrious efforts that kept the Falcons on the front foot all game, even if he didn't score like May.
England star May was nearly as good taking his try really well just before the end of the first half and setting up Tom Marshall for his score with a searing break in the second.
