Newcastle Falcons rise to top position after beating London Irish 29-17

Newcastle Falcons 29-17 London Irish, Kingston Park
Scorecard

A spirited effort from Vereniki Goneva led the way as Newcastle Falcons completed a 29-17 bonus point victory over London Irish in their Aviva Premiership encounter at Kingston Park on Friday.

The win is also Newcastle's fourth win in five games that saw them rise to the top of the table while London Irish's poor season continued as they lost their fourth game and positioned 11th.

Fullback Tommy Bell kicked a third minute penalty to kick the proceedings for the visitors but the Falcons totally controlled the game between the 15th and 26th minute as Goneva (21' and 26') crossed over twice while Juan Pablo Socino (18') also went past the line.

Tane Takulua kicked three conversions and a penalty to ensure Dean Richards' men had a 24-3 lead at half-time.

In the 59th minute, Newcastle Falcons secured a bonus point as Will Welch crossed over and increased their lead to 26 points. Alex Lewington could have gone past the line on a couple of occasions but was denied by stern tackles from Goneva. However, he did set up the try for Conor Gilsenan in the 67th minute.

Two minutes later, Tom Fowlie scored the second try for the visitors but their onslaught came very late in the game as the Falcons completed a 12 point victory.

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