Alan Dickens reflects on Newcastle Red Bulls' late collapse

Newcastle Red Bulls head coach Alan Dickens voiced his frustration after his side fell 39-17 to Leicester Tigers at Kingston Park, despite staying competitive for much of the match.

A strong home crowd saw Newcastle trail by just one score by the 55th minute before Leicester pulled away in the closing stages.

Dickens said the performance again followed a familiar pattern, with his side unable to sustain pressure when it mattered.

“We were right in it at the hour mark and produced some good stuff, but the disappointing aspect was once again having a team pull away from us," he told the club's official website.

“We also allowed them to score straight after our try in the first half, but taking a step back from the immediate emotion after a game like that, there were lots of positives.

“We created chances, our line-out was much better, we probed away in the backs and made some good breaks, but we needed to be more clinical.”

With Newcastle still chasing their first Gallagher Premiership victory of the season, Dickens acknowledged the frustration among supporters but insisted the team is closer to a breakthrough than results suggest.

He praised the squad’s internal competition created through recent rotation and commended the effort shown on the field, stressing that the players remain committed to improving ahead of next weekend’s trip to Lyon.

“I can understand why people are frustrated because we’re showing up well in patches, and I don’t think we’re far off.

“We’ve created competition within the squad by rotating for our cup games over the past month, and we’ll go again on Monday ahead of next weekend’s trip to Lyon.

“The players certainly didn’t lack for effort, but the disappointment was we didn’t finish off our chances when we created them.

“Like I say, it was frustrating once again to have the opposition pull away from us late on, but we’ll keep working and keep fighting for our supporters who once again turned out in great numbers".