Final fling as Tait hails his battlers

Mar 13 2011 by Mark Smith, Sunday Sun

NEWCASTLE Falcons head coach Alan Tait hailed his side’s never-say-die qualities, as they secured a last-minute ticket to the LV= Cup final.

That final takes place a week today in Northampton, where the Falcons will meet the winners of this afternoon’s semi-final clash between Gloucester and Welsh side Newport Gwent Dragons.

And they take serious momentum with them into the trophy tussle, as they look to secure their first major silverware since the 2004 Powergen Cup win over Sale Sharks.

Snatching their place in the final courtesy of a 21-20 victory at Harlequins on Friday night – their first win at the Twickenham Stoop for over a decade – Tait said: “You get funny feelings in games and, even at 10 points down, I always thought we were still in this one for some reason.”

Trailing as early as the second minute through Karl Dickson’s sniping try, the Falcons clawed their way back to a 13-6 half-time deficit through a pair of Jimmy Gopperth penalties.

The Kiwi levelled the scores just past the hour mark with a counter-attack try, but when Harlequins’ former England full-back Mike Brown crossed in the right-hand corner with just seven minutes to go, Newcastle’s trophy trail looked to have run dry for another year.

That was not accounting for a ruthlessly patient period of build-up play in the dying embers of the match, with Tongan centre Tane Tu’ipulotu the man to cross for the killer score down the right hand side.

“These late-night kick-offs away from home can have that effect when you’re kicking around the hotel all day, and our guys looked like they were still having their soup and sandwiches back at the Marriott when Quins went in for that first try,” lamented Tait.

“I can’t praise them enough for the way they bounced back, though, and the work they have put in is absolutely phenomenal. Even the boys who weren’t down with us in London, they have played their part, because it’s a massive squad effort from every single man.

“We put on some young lads at the end there, and they all delivered. I criticised some of our impact subs for not adding to the side last weekend, but they certainly proved me wrong and really did the business this time round.”

Taking in the magnitude of his side’s achievement, he added: “The people involved in this – players, coaches, fans and everybody else – they will remember it forever.

“You’ll win a game like that once in your lifetime, and this was our night.

“We were perhaps lucky to end up on the winning side, but semi-finals are like that. They’re brutal, and you’ve got to dig deep. The defensive effort throughout was tremendous, and to score that try at the end was just the icing on the cake.”