A NEWCASTLE team who blooded one Academy boy at full back and finished with three others on the field snatched an extraordinary last-gasp win against Wasps yesterday.

The sheer drama and entertainment made glorious amends for rugby events elsewhere at the weekend, with Dave Walder landing the winning kick from five metres inside the left touchline.

It had previously been questionable why Walder had been sent on for the last 20 minutes as, in the absence of Matt Burke, 19-year-old Morpeth boy Toby Flood came in for a highly impressive debut.

The Falcons were keen to get Walder back into action after his knee operation, but after replacing Flood he missed the final tackle as Wasps scored the try which put them in front for the first time with two minutes of normal time left.

Walder was not alone in that as all three of Wasps' tries resulted from several missed tackles, but the only other blot on a magnificent day for the Falcons was yet another injury with Epi Taione suffering a suspected broken arm.

He was replaced by Academy boy Adam Dehaty, while lock Geoff Parling and scrum half Lee Dickson were also on by the end.

Director of Rugby Rob Andrew said: "It's just fantastic to win like that with virtually an under 21 team.

"We are having to dig as deep as this club ever has, but people who haven't played for a while like Semo Sititi and Craig Hamilton were outstanding.

"Toby Flood hadn't played for a while after a knee operation, but he showed what a talent he is. He will be in the England Under 21 squad, so will Lee Dickson, and Adam Dehaty is very close to it.

"Toby can play at 10,12 or 15 and he's also a goal-kicker but I didn't want him to have that pressure so we asked Tom May to take the kicks. He did so well I was reluctant to take the kicking away from him but I felt there might be a big kick in it somewhere."

Indeed there was and Walder sent the kick unerringly between the posts then admitted: "It was a great way to finish because I'd had a pretty shocking 20 minutes. I felt very rusty after four weeks out."

Burke has also had a knee operation and will be out for four to six weeks, but should be back before the Heineken Cup quarter-final away to Stade Francais on April 2.

As well as having a huge boot, Flood lacked nothing in confidence, once feigning to kick in a tight situation in his own 22 before breaking out to turn defence into attack.

Fears that Wasps would out-muscle the Falcons proved unfounded and after hooker Phil Greening was spoken to following a first-minute fight it was not a particularly physical contest.

The players concentrated instead on entertaining the crowd of 7,659 who had turned up to watch two sides shorn of their internationals.

While many of referee Rob Debney's decisions were questionable, his failure to adhere to the letter of the law probably helped the game to flow.

May kicked a 40-metre penalty after two minutes. Visiting full back Mark Van Gisbergen swiftly replied and Wasps threatened to take the lead when they ran a free-kick near the posts, which was harshly awarded for the Falcons front row not engaging.

But as centre Ayoola Erinle went for the line he was superbly tackled by Mark Wilkinson, again proving he is not on the Newcastle payroll just to keep Jonny company.

He also set a few well-rehearsed moves in motion, including when May came off the right wing to take a huge miss-pass going left. May made 40 metres then skipper Ian Peel drove on and Wasps were penalised under the posts.

May made it 6-3 then came Flood's audacious break out of defence, supported by Michael Stephenson. The attack continued with a probing kick to the right corner by Wilkinson, who at the ensuing ruck burst on to scrum half James Grindal's pass to score.

May converted for a 13-3 lead after 20 minutes, but Van Gisbergen replied then Stephenson was caught under a high ball on his 22. Wasps ripped the ball off him, drove a maul 15 metres and moved the ball out for left winger Michael Roberts to skip through two tackles to score.

The Falcons sent on James Isaacson for Peel, although the captain returned for the last 15 minutes in place of Micky Ward.

May's third penalty made it 16-11 at half-time and the Falcons went further ahead when Taione broke powerfully from his own 22 and sent Hamilton galloping to the Wasps 22.

Had the rangy lock passed to Grindal the scrum half would have scored, but possession was still retained and when the ball came back Flood was at fly half.

He went for glory and was held but managed to off-load to No 8 Phil Dowson, who scored just right of the posts for May to convert again.

Wasps sent on their big guns at that point, including former England lock Simon Shaw, and began to get on top.

Erinle broke through three tackles to score from 25 metres, then Van Gisbergen landed a penalty to reduce the gap to 23-21.

Walder kicked a simple penalty with five minutes left, but Wasps went ahead through Van Gisbergen's conversion after Roberts scored his second try, shrugging off three tackles in 30-metre run up the left touchline.

The Falcons refused to lie down and Walder's kick gave them their third successive dramatic home win following Jonny Wilkinson's injury time try against Sale and Burke's late clincher against Newport.

* Newcastle Falcons wing Ollie Phillips scored a try in every game for England as they finished runners-up in the plate competition at the IRB Sevens in Wellington, New Zealand.

He said after the competition: "I love scoring tries and was pleased with that, but disappointed that we still lost.

"Scoring for England is a dream I have had since I was young."

"I think I have learned a tremendous amount and felt much more confident after each match."

Result: Newcastle Falcons 29 London Wasps 28.