Exeter Chiefs ease past Newcastle Falcons

Exeter Chiefs secured a comfortable 16-3 Aviva Premiership victory over Newcastle at Sandy Park on Saturday.

Three Gareth Steenson penalties to Phil Godman’s one gave Exeter a 9-3 advantage
at the break, and with Newcastle struggling to score tries it proved to be enough.

The Falcons failed to add to Godman’s three-pointer after the interval and
Haydn Thomas’ touchdown ten minutes into the second period was the only points
of the half.

Despite an excellent start to the season, Exeter went into the game in sixth
position having lost their previous two Premiership matches. But against a team
which has only won three league encounters this campaign, the hosts were expected
to overcome the threat of the Falcons.

Rob Baxter’s men started off brightly and Steenson kicked them into a 3-0 lead
after 11 minutes. The fly-half then added his second from the tee before Newcastle
began to build an attack of their own and press the Chiefs’ line.

However, the home side resisted the pressure and were soon awarded another
kickable penalty, which their stand-off duly converted.

Dean Richards’ team eventually got the reward for their battling qualities
with the last kick of the half when Godman reduced the arrears via a three-pointer.

Both teams struggled to find their fluency at the start of the second period
before Exeter finally managed to put a couple of phases together which led to
Thomas crossing the whitewash. It was the worst possible outcome for the Falcons
with the wind in their favour after the break.

In fact, having been forced to keep the ball in hand due to the conditions,
the West Country outfit were far more threatening in the second half. Although
the Chiefs failed to add to their score in the remaining half-hour, they emerged
with a comfortable win.

Final Score Exeter (9) 16 Chiefs Newcastle (3) 3

Scorers

Exeter Chiefs
Tries – Thomas
Pen -Steenson 3
Con – Steenson
Drop –

Newcastle
Tries –
Pen – Godman
Con –
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee: Greg Garner (56th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Roger Baileff & Paul Burton
TMO: Geoff Warren.

Teams

Exeter Chiefs

15 Luke Arscott, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Kai Horstmann,, 7 Ben White, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm (capt), 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Jack Yeandle ,1 Ben Moon

Replacements : 16 Chris Whitehead, 17 Brett Sturgess, 18 Alex Brown, 19 James Hanks, 20 Don Armand, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Fetu’u Vainikolo

Newcastle Falcons

15 Alex Tait, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Ryan Shortland, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 1 Rob Vickers, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 4 Carlo del Fava, 5 Fraser McKenzie, 6 Richard Mayhew, 7 Andy Saull, 8 Ally Hogg (c)

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Sean Tomes, 20 Will Welch, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Jamie Helleur