Match Report
Ayrshire Bulls - 13
Newcastle Falcons - 0
The Falcons battled from 10-0 down to lead 26-10 at half-time, adding to their tally after the interval to maintain their unbeaten record for the season.
It was the visitors who grabbed the first points of the evening four minutes in when a spell of pressure in the Newcastle half was rewarded with a penalty on the 22 in front of the posts, fly-half Tom Jordan making no mistake with the simple scoring opportunity.
They reached double figures just two minutes later when winger Tyler Beary scored in the left corner, Jordan adding the conversion from wide out, but the Falcons were in no mood to lie down.
Having been awarded a penalty 35 metres out Will Haydon-Wood sent a perfect touchfinder to the left corner, where hooker Jamie Blamire scored from the resulting driving line-out.
Haydon-Wood converted impressively from wide out, and was doing so again just five minutes later after another penalty was sent to the left corner – Conrad Cade the try-scorer this time as he grounded amid a heap of bodies.
By now the Falcons were exerting a much greater degree of control, their set-piece dominance and willingness to offload eventually bringing a third try as Rodney Ah You’s break and pass enabled replacement winger Will Roberts to score after hitting the line at pace and stepping the last man.
Haydon-Wood again added the extras, and the Falcons had a 26-10 half-time lead when Blamire’s second try from a driving maul rewarded his side’s decision to kick for the corner.
Blamire had a hat-trick seven minutes into the second half as the maul was once again put to good use, and it was no shock when the hooker scored again on the hour mark.
The only surprise was that it didn’t stem from the driving maul, Blamire pulling off a clinical front peel at a close-range line-out for an unconverted score down the right.
The sin-binning of Falcons and England Under-18s wing Matty Ward for not rolling away after a heroic tackle on the rampaging Bulls No 8 allowed the visitors a numerical advantage which they quickly exploited on 68 minutes, full-back Matt Davidson scoring in the left corner from simple hands along the line.
Jordan slotted his second conversion of the evening but there was time for one more try, Newcastle having the final say when Alex Tait hit a straightening angle from 10 metres out – Haydon-Wood converting.
**Falcons XV:** 15 Alex Tait, 14 Matthew Ward (Under-18s), 13 Chidera Obonna, 12 Joel Matavesi (captain), 11 Danny Kassapian (Newcastle University), 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Callum Pascoe; 1 Conrad Cade, 2 Jamie Blamire, 18 Rodney Ah You, 4 Bailey Ransom, 5 Toby Salmon, 6 Rob Farrar, 7 Connor Collett, 8 Tom Marshall.
Replacements: Phil Brantingham, Oscar Caudle, Mark Tampin, Harry Hill, Will Montgomery, Owen Chaplin (Under-18s), James Blackett (Under-18s), Charlie Wilson, Will Roberts (Newcastle University).
**Scorers –** Tries: Jamie Blamire 4, Conrad Cade, Will Roberts, Alex Tait. Conversions: Will Haydon-Wood 5.
**Ayrshire Bulls:** 15 Matt Davidson, 14 Tyler Beary, 13 Danny McCluskey, 12 Isaac McNulty, 11 Craig Gossman, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Harry Warr; 1 Ruaridh Sayce, 2 Alex McGuirg, 3 Ewan Davies, 4 George Bordill, 5 Fraser Hastie, 6 Lewis Anderson, 7 Peter McCallum, 8 Graham Geldenhuys.
**Replacements:** Sam Kitchen, Scott Clelland, Michael Scott, Craig Miller, Lars Morrice, Ryan Sweeney, Blair McPherson, Aylan Schabort, Jordan Craig, Cammy Black.
**Scorers –** Tries: Tyler Beary, Matt Davidson. Conversions: Tom Jordan 2. Penalties: Tom Jordan.
**Referee:** Alex Thomas.
