Newcastle Falcons strengthen play-off chances with 23-25 win over Leicester

Leicester Tigers 23 - 25 Newcastle Falcons, Welford Road

Vereniki Goneva scored a double as Newcastle Falcons edged out Leicester Tigers at Welford Road to strengthen their chances of a play-off spot in the ongoing season of Aviva Premiership.

The win has taken Newcastle Falcons to the third position in the table with 63 points as they are likely to finish in the top four while Leicester Tigers are placed at fifth and now they need to beat Sale Sharks in the final round and hope Wasps lose their next two games and Gloucester lose at least one.

It just 74 seconds for Newcastle Falcons to get their first points on the board with Fiji winger Goneva crossing over and a conversion from Joel Hodgson made it 0-7. The home side was quick to respond with England international Jonny May touching down and George Ford kicking the extras to level the scores.

Hodgson and Ford traded two penalties apiece in the remainder of the first half as the teams headed into the break with a scoreline of 13-13.

14 minutes after the break, Mike Fitzgerald powered a driving maul and dotted down as Leicester took control of the game. Ford also kicked the extras and also a penalty goal as the home side stretched their lead to 10 points.

It was once again Goneva, who brought Newcastle Falcons back into the game with his second coming in the 69th minute and the pressure was evident on Leicester Tigers as they lost Sione Kalamafoni to sin-bin in the 78th minute and number eight Ally Hogg scored the decisive try in the final minute to level the scores while replacement Tane Takulua held his nerve with the conversion to complete a vital two-point victory for the Falcons.