Falcons clipped in France
Newcastle suffered their first defeat in Pool Five of the Amlin Challenge Cup, the Falcons going down 24-19 to Montauban.
Last Updated: 18/12/09 10:13pm
Newcastle suffered their first defeat in Pool Five of the Amlin Challenge Cup, the Falcons going down 24-19 to Montauban.
Fly-half Jimmy Gopperth kicked 14 points for the Guinness Premiership side, including the conversion of Gcobani Bobo's second-half try.
However, that was not enough to overcome tries scored in either half by Gregory Argenese and Adrien Figueiredo.
Even so, a late penalty by Gopperth ensured the Falcons snatched a potentially crucial losing bonus point at Stade Sapiac and remain three points clear of the French club in the pool.
Hooker Argenese barged his way over in the 23rd minute and scrum-half Julien Audy added three kicks as Montauban raced into a 16-3 lead.
Gopperth reduced the deficit either side of half-time after Montauban prop Nick Adams was yellow-carded and Bobo then brought Newcastle back into the tie when he raced through on 64 minutes.
But the Falcons failed to repeat the score in a tense climax which saw Mathieu Belie and Danny Williams sin-binned late on.
