ROB Andrew has his best chance yet of getting his hands on the Tetley's Bitter Cup when Newcastle face Harlequins in the final at Twickenham on February 24.

Quins, next to bottom of the Premiership, were shock 22-18 winners against Leicester in Saturday's other semi-final and as they try to salvage something from their season they will surely give Falcons a harder time than Sale.

In front of a crowd of 6,257 at Kingston Park, the visitors threatened only when they were 34-13 down with 20 minutes left, scoring two quick tries.

But Newcastle easily shut them out in the last ten minutes and after losing in the final to Wasps two years ago, this time Andrew is determined to win it.

The Director of Rugby, who never won the cup as a player, said: "The last time we were in the final was the year Sir John Hall pulled out and the old side was starting to break up.

"It's important for this young group of players to get some success early. That will give them the confidence to move forward.

"Our first half performance was very good, although I was disappointed with their try just before half time because it kept them alive when they had looked dead and buried.

"It was a great game and a very good day for the club."

Newcastle also have a good chance of winning the European Shield and will qualify for the quarter-finals if they win at home to Benetton Treviso next Sunday.

Of Saturday's casualties, centre Jamie Noon is the most doubtful with a recurrence of his ankle injury, but the other centre Tom May and No 8 Ross Beattie should be fit.

Beattie was in rampant form until he retired just before half-time with a shoulder injury, while May was outstanding, scoring two of the three tries.

He went down late in the game with a leg injury, but shrugged it off afterwards when he said: "It was just a kick on the shin."

Of his second try, for which he broke two tackles on a 45-metre run to the line, he said: "Bryan Redpath kicked the ball and it hit me and stuck. I just set off for the corner and I could see my flatmates there so I put my head down and kept going towards them.

"I played in the final two years ago. It was a great experience, but we didn't play well so this is a good chance to rectify that."

Former Wigan Rugby League teammates Inga Tuigamala and Jason Robinson did not come into direct conflict as they were both on the left wing.

But Tuigamala admitted afterwards that he had targeted another ex-RL man, fellow Samoan Apollo Perelini, for one of the pulverising tackles which so unsettled Sale.

Steve Hanley, an England winger two years ago before injury disrupted his rapid rise, once dropped the ball because he was looking for the waiting Tuigamala.

As for Robinson, he barely received a pass, his one moment of brilliance coming when he covered back to field a kick and cleverly jinked through the first line of defence, only to slip.

The first pass to find Robinson arrived at the same time as three Newcastle players and Michael Stephenson ripped it away and set off on a 40-metre run up the right touchline.

It seemed he would beat the cover, but he tried to step inside and was held. Sale were penalised, however, and Newcastle kicked to the corner and won the line-out for Beattie to force his way over.

With a try count of 3-3, the difference between the sides was that Jonny Wilkinson landed all six penalty attempts while his opposite number Charlie Hodgson kicked two out of three for Sale.

The third fly half on the field, David Walder, looked very secure and confident at full back, while Sale's Vaughan Going made several costly mistakes.

One of them came when he struggled with a clever chip by Walder, and when Going failed to release the ball Walder followed up with a quickly-taken penalty, linking with flanker Andrew Mower, who sent May over for his first try.

At that stage it was 23-3 after 25 minutes, and with Doddie Weir pinching a lot of Sale's line-out ball there seemed little prospect of a contest.

But Hodgson squeezed in at the right corner and converted from the touchline, then Newcastle lost some of their fizz with Beattie's retirement, swiftly followed by Richard Arnold's sixth sin-binning of the season.

Sale threatened again just before the break, but they lost the ball in another thundering Tuigamala tackle.

He again stopped Sale in their tracks just prior to May's second try, but after 66 minutes replacement prop Duncan Bell appeared at centre to dummy his way over for the visitors.

The conversion was added by Fijian Niki Little, who had replaced Hodgson, but he was off target when good handling allowed Hanley to race over four minutes later.

At 34-25 with ten minutes left, Sale were back in it but they immediately disputed a penalty, taking Wilkinson ten metres nearer for the posts for his final success.

Tuigamala said: "It was not a great experience when we last went to Twickenham, but it's very exciting to be going back.

"There's a lot more potential here now. The youngsters have fought hard to impress and that motivates the old ones like me to keep going."