Match Report
Wasps A - 0
Newcastle Falcons - 10
The Falcons trailed 20-10 at the midway stage, having taken an early lead through a try from Hawick flanker Dalton Redpath.
Wasps skipper Will Porter crossed for the home side’s opening try, the conversion putting them in front, but Newcastle had the lead again when Simon Uzokwe scored from a driving maul.
George Thornton resumed Wasps’ advantage when he crossed for a long-range try, a pair of Sunni Jardine penalties in the closing stages of the half giving Wasps a ten-point interval advantage.
The Falcons were held up over the try-line in the early moments of the second half, but it was Wasps who made the first scoring contribution when Taju Atta latched on to a break and offload to dot down.
Replacement Rich Elliott, a guest player from Tynedale, crossed for the Falcons’ third try from close range just before the hour mark, and they got to within five points when Ben Stevenson added the bonus-point try.
Hawick’s Drew Davidson added a fifth to nudge the visitors in front for the first time in the second half, but a see-saw encounter saw Wasps registering a bonus point of their own when Atta crossed for his second of the night.
Sam Spink scored Wasps’ fifth as the game entered the final 10 minutes, but the Falcons kept on fighting and got themselves to within three when footwork and pace from Zach Kibirige enabled the winger to score – Brett Connon converting.
Pressing until the end in search of a winner, the Falcons were to be denied when Wasps’ defence held out, Newcastle showing a record of won won and lost one in the Shield after victory at Worcester in the opening round.
Academy manager and first team skills coach Mark Laycock said: “It was a frustrating game in many ways because we started well, we let Wasps back into the game, got ourselves ahead again near the end and lost it to a try where the ball squirted out the side of a ruck.
“We didn’t have a lot of set-piece ball to work with but we adapted to that as the game went on, we moved them about and scored some good tries. It really could have gone either way and it was just disappointing that we let our lead slip late on.
“Still, there were a number of positive performances, Will Montgomery in particular catching the eye with his carrying, his decision-making and the quality of his general involvements.
“It was fantastic to see a schoolboy in Oscar Caudle coming on from the bench, one of our AASE lads at Gosforth Academy, and we’re really grateful to all of the clubs who allowed us to use guest players for this game. They contributed well, and it was great to get them out there.”
Newcastle’s next outing is at home to Leicester on Monday September 24.
**Newcastle Falcons A:** 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Charlie Wilson, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti; 1 Paul Mullen, 2 Joe Lashley (Northumbria Uni & Blaydon), 3 Craig Mitchell, 4 Will Montgomery, 5 Kieran Frost (Yorkshire Carnegie), 6 Dalton Redpath (Hawick), 7 Tom Marshall, 8 Simon Uzokwe.
**Replacements:** 16 Ali Johnstone (Heriots), 17 Rich Elliott (Tynedale), 18 Oscar Caudle (Gosforth Academy), 19 Drew Davidson (Hawick), 20 Morgan Passman, 21 James Elliott, 22 Ben Stevenson, 23 George Wacokecoke.
**Wasps A:** 15 Owain James, 14 Josh Grimes, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Will Simonds, 11 Callum Sirker, 10 Sunni Jardine, 9 Will Porter (captain); 1 George Thornton, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 3 Alex Hunt, 4 Josh Fenner, 5 Tim Cardall, 6 Kieran Curran, 7 Jack Dickinson, 8 Tom Willis.
**Replacements:** 16 Alfie Barbeary, 17 Jamie Jack, 18 Jack Higgins, 19 Joe Tunney, 20 Will Cardall, 21 Josh Nott, 22 Cameron Anderson, 23 Taju Atta.
