Newcastle Falcons 9 Harlequins 9: match report They took the lead easily enough thanks to an Evans penalty after four minutes, but Newcastle responded with their own via the reliable boot of Jimmy Gopperth. A yellow card for Falcons scrum-half Chris Pilgrim for tugging Ugo Monye back off the ball gave the visitors numerical and territorial advantage, but Evans hit the post with the penalty and Quins struggled to break clear of a cluttered midfield. Indeed, only a magnificent piece of defensive play from Brown prevented Newcastle's Jeremy Manning from scoring a try as the returning England man picked up an awkward ball, skipped away from three attackers and set Quins off on the counter. It looked promising for the visitors with the defence scattered, but they lost hooker Chris Brooker to a nasty knee injury when the attack broke down. A five-minute delay ended with Newcastle also hitting the post with a penalty and the scores were still level when Pilgrim returned from the sin bin. A poor half ended badly for Quins when Evans missed a difficult penalty from the left touchline, athough Gopperth also missed a long-range effort seconds before the break. Evans finally found his range early in the second half as Quins, unsettled by Newcastle's physical pressure, tried to move through the gears. A penalty put them back in the lead, but the Kiwi shanked his next one. Newcastle progressed up field after great work from James Fitzpatrick, won a penalty and Gopperth kicked them level again. With the home crowd sensing an upset, Newcastle looked dangerous, but with Brown imperious under the high ball they could not get the points on the board they needed to make their opponents chase the game. Quins forwards responded to the challenge, but the game remained tantalising balanced, Jamie Helleur and Gopperth making a mess of a two-on-one chance out wide, Quins failing to score when camped on the five-metre line. A moment of madness from Rob Vickers, in his 100th appearance for the club, shown a yellow card for punching Meyler appeared to have thrown it away, but Quins conceded a penalty in front of their own posts. Gopperth did the rest.