Falcons put a Matt finish on Euro gloss

Burke upstaged centres Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait, who scored a sensational try, as the Falcons followed up last week's shock win at Newport by claiming a top European scalp.

Perpignan looked certain to score twice in injury time, but both times Burke came to the rescue.

First he intercepted what would have been a scoring pass two metres from the line, then he put in a prodigious tackle to prevent visiting skipper Bernard Goutta from touching down.

Had the Man of the Match votes not had to be in five minutes before the end, Burke may well have pinched the honour off Noon, who said of the match-saving tackle: "Matt hit him so hard he turned him round and forced him on to his back as he hit the ground. Otherwise it was a try.

"He is a legend in the game. He brings everything to the table every match and every training session. He talks to everyone and helps us all because he reads and knows the game so well.

"But this was a real team effort. Every one of us really wanted this. We have worked hard on our defence and the last two games have been great."

Noon must now be very close to an England starting place in the Autumn internationals after worrying the high-ranking French opposition almost every time he had the ball.

But even he was almost upstaged by his 18-year-old fellow centre Tait, whose try was the highlight of the Falcons' superb first half display.

They dominated the line-out through Scots Craig Hamilton and Stuart Grimes, and there were also a towering performance from flanker Colin Charvis, with No 8 Phil Dowson not far behind.

Although the game became fiercer and scrappier after the interval, the first half was played in an excellent spirit after two early hints that Perpignan would live up to their abrasive reputation.

They were guilty of a trip and a punch, the former allowing Newcastle to go ahead in the second minute when Burke was sent crashing as he followed up a high kick which landed just outside the 22.

He coolly slotted the kick, but missed narrowly with his next effort from 40 metres after seven minutes following a punch on Marius Hurter.

Perpignan were full of the sort of barrel-chested citizens you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, but if they thought they could bully the Falcons they were quickly disabused of the notion.

But they were able to draw level after 12 minutes when their first attack ended with the Falcons falling offside, allowing Australian fly half Matty Edmonds to kick an easy penalty.

Newcastle came back with an attack up the right through Burke and Tom May, then came Noon's first burst as he was stopped but had the strength to break out of the tackle and reach the 22.

The Falcons kept the pressure on and when Hamilton pinched the ball at a Perpignan throw-in eight metres from their line Charvis was at the heart of a series of pick-and-drives before the ball was spun out for Tait to score. He simply waltzed round his marker from ten metres.

Burke's excellent conversion made it 10-3 after 17 minutes, but in a rare blemish on Newcastle's first half performance no-one claimed the restart and a dangerous situation was averted by Charvis driving forward before Dave Walder put in a 60-metre clearance.

Perpignan came back and a quickly-taken penalty by the scrum half on halfway gained ten metres before the ball came quickly back and Edmonds danced through the Falcons defence, veered right and bounced off Michael Stephenson's tackle to score ten metres right of the posts.

Surprisingly, he missed the conversion but 10-8 was not an accurate reflection of the play and the Falcons knew it as another burst by Noon saw Perpignan penalised and Burke was on target from 30 metres.

Burke then put in a magnificent clearance from 22 to 22, where the visitors knocked the ball into touch but were allowed to get away with a quick throw-in.

Newcastle then ran the ball from their own 22, with Tait making good ground and when they kicked a penalty to touch Noon made another half break, Dowson drove on and another penalty allowed Burke to make it 16-8.

It stayed that way until the 67th minute, when replacement full back Diego Giannantonio kicked a penalty for the visitors, who succeeded in spoiling much of Newcastle's ball in the second half and prevented them from regaining their fluency.

But the Falcons almost scored midway through the half when Walder's quick thinking sent a 22-metre drop out deep into the visiting 22 and the forwards drove to the posts, only to be held up on the line.

Walder took over the goal-kicking with six minutes of normal time left and a sweet strike from 40 metres bisected the posts to put the Falcons 19-11 ahead.

England's Dan Luger never got a sniff on the left wing for Perpignan in the first half, but with the game entering injury time he burst down the middle and was involved a second time in a move which seemed certain to bring a try in the left corner until Burke's interception.

Perpignan kept the pressure on for replacement fly half Nicolas Laharrague to drop a goal, then in the fourth minute of added time the forwards drove to within two metres of the line, only to be penalised for blocking.

Then came Burke's shuddering tackle as Goutta was about to touch down, followed by a five-metre scrum at which Perpignan tried to drive over off the back row, only to be penalised for handling on the deck as they set up a ruck.

The pattern of the second half and all that late French pressure suggests Newcastle are unlikely to win the return in January.

But if the can beat Newport at home and Edinburgh home and away they will have every chance of a prestigious place in the last eight.

Result: Newcastle Falcons 19 Perpignan 14.