Bedford 6-18 Newcastle: Falcons close to promotion

Newcastle moved a step closer to a return to the Aviva Premiership after claiming a nine-point lead over Bedford in the first leg of their Championship final last night, with stand-off Jimmy Gopperth doing most of the damage.

The New Zealander booted all 18 of his side’s points in a near-perfect kicking display at Goldington Road, with hosts Bedford replying with penalties by Myles Dorrian (two) and replacement Jake Sharp.

Bedford drew first blood when Dorrian slotted over a sixth-minute penalty but Newcastle, who had won all three previous meetings between the two sides this season, fought back to lead 12-3 at half-time.

All of those points came from the boot of Gopperth, who confidently fired over penalties in the 12th, 16th and 28th minutes before adding another right on the stoke of half-time.

Gopperth looked set to score the opening try of the match immediately after the restart following a rapid Falcons break but was dragged down by a crucial tackle by James Short with the line in his sights.

Gopperth was then penalised for getting up and trying to play on after the tackle but Newcastle quickly won possession back and, after good work by their forwards, won another penalty in front of the posts. The visiting No 10 was never going to miss from that range and he duly slotted over his fifth penalty of the night to make it 15-3.

It was soon 18-3 thanks to another Gopperth penalty before Bedford tried to launch a fightback in which they reduced the deficit by three through Dorrian just before the hour.

Gopperth had a chance to extend Newcastle’s lead back to 15 points again with nine minutes to go but, for once, his radar was off as his penalty drifted wide.

With time slipping away, Bedford pushed hard to try to cut the gap and they gained some reward for a sustained spell of pressure when replacement Sharp fired over a penalty after the home side opted not to go for the corner.

Sharp also had another chance right at the end but he pulled his kick from wide out left and Dean Richards’ Newcastle, who lost just one match during the regular season, will now hope to finish the tie off at Kingston Park and seal their berth back in the top flight.

Scorer: Bedford: Pens: Dorrian 2, Sharp. Newcastle: Pens: Gopperth 6.

Bedford: P Ransom, Stephenson, Burke, Atkinson, Dorrian, Short, Baldwin, Reeves, Cochrane, Boulton, Howard, Tupai, Gillanders, Fox, Fenton-Wells. Subs: Spurling, Seal, Gulliver, Barrell, Veenendaal, Sharp, Dodge.

Newcastle: A. Tait, Cato, Hufanga, Powell, Shortland, Gopperth, Fury, Shiells, Vickers, Tomaszczyk, Del Fava, MacLeod, M. Wilson, Welch, Hogg. Subs: M. Mayhew, Golding, S. Wilson, Hudson, Tu’ifua, Lawson, Luveniyali.

Referee: L Pearce.

Attendance: 4,588