Semi success for Falcons

A last-gasp try from Tane Tu'ipulotu saw Newcastle Falcons book their place in the final of the LV= Cup with a 21-20 victory over Harlequins at the Stoop.

The Tongan centre finished off a flowing move with the last play of the match to break Quins hearts and ensure their 12-match winning run on home soil went up in smoke.

While Tu'ipulotu will grab the headlines for his try, it was a man-of-the-match performance from fly-half Jimmy Gopperth which made the victory possible.

The Newcastle number 10 finished the match with 16 points after another near-flawless kicking display, and a try to boot.

Quins, leading 13-6 at half-time, dominated territory and possession for almost the entire game and looked to have done enough when Mike Brown's 70th-minute try put them ahead.

However, Newcastle refused to surrender and reached the final of this competition for a seventh time thanks to Tu'ipulotu's try at the death.

Dominate

Harlequins made a stunning start to the game, Karl Dickson marking his return to the side with a try only 56 seconds in.

Ugo Monye brilliantly caught Rory Clegg's kick-off and, after an initial break from Joe Marler, scrum-half Dickson was on hand to pick up the pieces and jink under the posts.

The frenetic opening to the match continued as Clegg and Gopperth traded penalties, however Quins continued to have a stranglehold on territory in the early stages.

The home side were dealt a blow on 17 minutes when Will Skinner was forced to leave the field through injury, but that setback was eased when Andrew Van der Heijden was sent to the sin-bin for dangerous play moments later.

Quins increased their lead to 13-3 through the boot of Clegg, but that advantage should have been much greater heading into the half-time interval.

With gaps appearing in the 14-man Falcons defence, Monye missed a gilt-edge chance to put Quins in complete control of the tie when he dropped the ball with the try-line at his mercy.

Van der Heijden returned and Gopperth slotted over his second penalty to give Newcastle hope going into the second period.

The second half began in a similar vein to the first with the bulk of the rugby taking place deep in Newcastle territory.

Remarkable

However, with 57 minutes on the clock, the best player on the pitch - Gopperth - seized on a loose ball after Dickson had lost possession and went on to run the length of the field to score under the posts.

The Falcons fly-half converted his own try to level the scores and, after soaking up yet more pressure, edged Newcastle 16-13 ahead with 15 minutes remaining with another cooly taken penalty.

The response from Quins, though, was superb, a remarkable 25 phases eventually resulting in the go-ahead score from Brown.

With Newcastle camped on their own try-line for what seemed an eternity, a defence-splitting pass from Clegg eventually resulted in full-back Brown going over in the corner.

Clegg's inch-perfect touchline conversion edged Quins 20-16 in front, however Tu'ipulotu sent the small, yet vocal contingent of travelling fans into raptures with his late effort in the corner.

Newcastle, winners of this competition in 1976, 1977, 2001 and 2004, will play either Gloucester or Newport-Gwent Dragons in the final.