Newcastle bow out of the Challenge Cup

Newcastle Falcons bowed out of the EPCR Challenge Cup on Friday with a home loss to French side, Montpellier.

The sides were level 7-7 at the break but visitors were a try up inside two minutes when an 80-metre counter-attack saw them winning turnover ball on their own 22, quickly spinning it to the right from where scrum-half Alexis Bernadet rounded off a two-on-one.

Centre Thomas Darmon stroked over the touchline conversion – the Falcons’ attempt at a comeback seeing Oli Spencer break down the left only for his attempted offload to go to ground.

Ben Redshaw’s injury-enforced departure around the quarter mark meant a sooner-than-expected debut for Max Clark, and Reuben Parsons was another to depart early after taking a head knock just before the half-hour.

The sides were level again shortly after – Alex Hearle the man to race in for Newcastle’s score, the centre accepting an inside pass from Max Pepper after a break down the wing.

Kieran Wilkinson converted from in front, having moments earlier been a whisker away from a wonder try when he stepped his way through the line, chipped the full-back but fractionally failed to regather an awkwardly-bouncing ball.

Newcastle almost snatched the lead with the final play of the half when Wilkinson’s grubber to the left corner was chased down by Hearle, but the video referee ruled the Montpellier defender to have fractionally beaten the former Worcester man to the bouncing ball in-goal.

The Falcons had one last chance when they kicked a penalty to the left corner with the very last play of the half, but they could not convert from the resulting maul as the sides went into the changing room at seven apiece.

Montpellier nudged back in front six minutes after the resumption when South African centre Jan Serfontein supported a line-break and accepted an offload five metres out down the left – replacement scrum-half Aurelien Barreau adding the conversion.

The Frenchmen followed up with a third try when replacement hooker Lyam Akrab scored from a catch-and-drive in the right corner, and they had their attacking bonus point on 66 minutes when fellow sub Nicolas Martins ploughed over from a close-range pick and go.

Akrab was then shown yellow for what looked a shocking tip tackle on Joe Davis, but the result by that stage was gone.