Cardiff Blues 45 Newcastle Falcons 24

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Dai Flanagan got some early points with a 40 yard penalty, however it was Newcastle who got the first try of the afternoon following a lineout on the Blues 5 metre line. The ball was gathered well and the pack drove for the line before Hooker, Alex Walker crashed over.

The Blues soon struck back with a well worked effort. From the line out the Blues drove until a ruck under the posts saw the ball spread from Allinson to Flanagan, with Shanklin drawing his man and putting Norton Knight in. Flanagan slotted the conversion and added a further penalty to extend the lead to 13-5.

Newcastle’s next score came from the same position as their first. A lineout 5 metres out was driven forward and again Alex Walker popped up with the ball to score. This time Miller added the conversion but Flanagan added another penalty to bring the half time scores to Blues 16 Flacons 12.

Half Time Cardiff Blues 16 Newcastle Falcons 12

From the restart the Blues attacked well inside the Falcons twenty two and Ed Williamson was sent to the bin after preventing Allinson from passing out from an offside position. The blues capitalized with Molitika crashing over for a try and Flanagan adding the extras.

The Blues nearly scored again when Flanagan took a quick penalty and passed on to Tito who fed Hewitt. The powerful centre took the ball on when he had a man outside and Pretorius came close to powering over. However, the Blues were awarded a penalty and opted for the scrum and spread the ball wide, Molitika picke dup, passed to Pretorius and Norton Knight showed quick hand to free Mustoe in the corner. Flanagan was wide with the conversion.

Newcastle hadn’t given up the ghost and soon struck back with another identical try. A lineout 5 metres out saw Hooker, Alex Walker peeling round to touch down for his third of the afternoon.

The game was halted to allow treatment to young hooker Sam Hobbs who was stretchered off.

From the lineout the Blues spread the ball first right then left where Dafydd Hewitt did well to time his pass to allow Norton Knight to dive over in the corner for his second. Flanagan was unlucky with his touchline conversion hitting the post.

There was enough time in the match for Sweeney to score another interception try, collecting a pass 60 yards out and touching down under the posts. Sweeney also added the conversion but Newcastle got a late consolation try through Rod Vickers. Miller adding the conversion.

Ben White looked to have fluffed a golden opportunity when the Blues passed the ball out left and the big back rower seemed to have held onto the ball for too long when the Blues had the overlap. However he had the strength and speed to carry on passed the tacklers and crash over in the corner.

Referee: James Jones

Cardiff Blues 15 Sam Norton-Knight 14 Richard Mustoe 13 Tom Shanklin 74off 12 Dafydd Hewitt 11 Dafydd James 10 Dai Flanagan 72off 9 Darren Allinson 70on

8 Mamma Molitika 7 Sam Warburton 6 Andries Petorious 70off 5 Paul Tito (C) 4 Scott Morgan 70off 3 Scott Andrews 65off 2 Huw Dowden 68off 1 Sam Hobbs 68on

16 Gary Horrigan 68on 17 Taufa’ao Filise 68on 18 Gary Powell 55on 19 Chris Dicomidis 70on 20 Ben White 70on 21 Tom Slater 70on 22 Ceri Sweeney 72on 23 Gareth Thomas 74on

Newcastle Falcons 15 Tom Catterick 14 Danny Williams 13 Michael Tait 12 Gcobani Bobo 11 Tom Biggs 10 Rob Miller 9 Chris Pilgrim

8 Adam Balding (C) 7 Will Welch 6 Ed Williamson 5 Mark Sorenson 4 Peter Browne 3 Matt Thompson 2 Alex Walker 1 Grant Shiells

16 Rob Vickers 17 Micky Ward 18 Kieran Brookes 19 Josh Afu 20 Alex Gray 21 Hall Charlton 22 Rob Vickerman 23 Charlie Amesbury

Yellow card Scott Morgan.

Cardiff Blues

Try Norton Knight x 3 Molitika x 1 Mustoe x 1 Sweeney x 1 White x 1
Penalty Flanagan x 3
Con Flanagan x 2 Sweeney x 1
D/Goal

Newcastle Falcons

Try Walker x 3 Vickers x 1
Penalty
Con Miller x 2
D/Goal

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