365 Sporting Days

Having enjoyed my first visit to Kingston Park in 2022 I was keen to repeat the experience. I’d booked the posh hospitality previously, but bought a ticket for £30 in the West Stand for this one. I then got a call from the team at Falcons to offer street food hospitality for £24, it was rude not to! And wow it was easy to book, no long winded attempts at getting a member of staff on the phone, they sent me an invoice, I paid, via Apple Pay I think. Sorted!

Saracens were forced into making a change to the team advertised with Ollie Stonham starting, rather than Callum Hunter Hill who was injured in the warm up.

The start to the season had been a difficult one for Falcons, the start to this match was a good one, a brilliant 50/22 saw them attack the Saracens line right across the pitch, they scored through Sebastian de Chaves, the ref questioned his control, but he kept it and the try was awarded, then converted.

There was an exchange of penalties, with one such leading to a yellow card for Elliot Obatoyinbo, for a deliberate knock on, Saracens had been playing with an advantage and chose the line out option, the maul rumbled over for Theo Dan to score. Alex Lozowski added the extras.

We had the first scrum after nearly 20 minutes after Saracens had made a break as Dan brushed past a couple of defenders before passing to Alex Lewington. The scrum was set then re-set, before a free kick was awarded to Falcons.

Saracens 2nd try came from another penalty close to the Falcons line, Eroni Mawi went to ground and the maul stalled, Ivan van Zyl got the ball out to Elliot Daly who backed himself to run in and score, he really should’ve been tackled.

The 2nd scrum was a Saracens put in and something of a mess, it completely disintegrated, but Saracens came up with the ball somehow.

Play moved on and Saracens were awarded a couple of penalties deep in the Falcons half. The maul then stalled again, Lewington was out in some space and received the ball to then run away from Adam Radwan to score.

Saracens scored again from a maul, with Theo Dan again in possession, Lozowski again converted to take the score to Newcastle 7 Saracens 28 at half time.

An early Saracens penalty in the 2nd half saw Lozowski kick the points. An early scrum collapsed to then be re-set, twice, finally coming out the back of the Saracens side. Saracens lost the ball and Falcons benefited from their 2nd 50/22, giving the home fans something to cheer about. They’d had precious little in the first half. Their attack however finished with a knock on.

A second cheer for the Falcons fans as they were awarded the penalty first time round. From the resulting scrum. They were awarded a penalty on their first attack, and really needed a score from the next line out. They got a great push on and rolled over the line for Bryan Byrne to score, the conversion fell just short.

Billy Vunipola came on for Hugh Tizard, an injury swap? He packed in at 2nd row after Saracens held the Falcons up at the kick off. I can’t recall seeing Billy V at 2nd row before. Alec Cleary went off before the scrum was re-set, he looked in some difficulty.

Tom Willis popped up on the wing to score for Saracens after they’d actually left the scrum with the ball. The kick was from the touch line and hit the posts.

Tom Willis then gave away a penalty as he engaged in some off the ball shenanigans, Saracens gave away a penalty in the line out. But Falcons gave away a penalty as they attacked. However Ollie Stonham was shown a yellow card as he grabbed high as a Falcons player got a bit past him. A seat belt tackle, that left Saracens with no Locks. Falcons put in a strong rolling maul and made good ground, but they took it down and Saracens were awarded the scrum.

Another penalty for Falcons saw them with a line out close to the Saracens line, they knocked the ball on.

Saracens scored another through one of their new Argentinians Juan Martin Gonzalez, he was one of 6 Argentinians in the game. The try was beneath the posts and Goode converted. Nick Tompkins was heavily involved in the build up, he was one of the Saracens who had a great game.

As I was saying, ‘why didn’t he pass it?’ Manu Vunipola virtually walked in to score under the posts as full time came. They took Saracens to 50. Theo Dan was my MOM, he was immense in the loose!

The crowd was 6.142 and Falcons have Exeter Chiefs up next at home. The final score was Newcastle Falcons 12 Saracens 50. A happy travelling contingent, and the street food, was great!