RUGBY: This was coronary-inducing stuff. From the first whistle until referee Gareth Simmonds signalled for full time, eight minutes after the allotted 80, the Leinster supporters sat perched on the edge of their seats, nails bitten to quick.
The Irish province survived to record their 15th successive victory this season and in doing so required all of the character, guts and determination which have been a hallmark of several performances in these Heineken European Cup and Celtic League campaigns. They didn't scale the heights at Headingley before a crowd of 1,146, but my goodness didn't they display great heart and obduracy of purpose.
The are still unbeaten in Europe, five wins in as many games, and now travel to Toulouse for Sunday's game still not sure whether they require a sixth win to secure a home quarter-final.
There were many heroes; the entire pack and Shane Horgan behind the scrum, but not to mention Trevor Brennan and Malcolm O'Kelly, both outstanding, would be churlish.
Leinster received a calamitous blow just 22 minutes into the match when outhalf Nathan Spooner was forced off with a rib injury. He received a shoulder to the ribs/kidneys in a double tackle and lasted just another minute. Brian O'Meara, who took over at outhalf with Ben Willis introduced at scrumhalf, understandably took time to settle.
Coach Matt Williams would have focused upon the lack of composure and accuracy that undermined Leinster's attacking gambits in the first 40 minutes. On three occasions a try looked a distinct possibility only for handling errors to negate fine approach work.
They appeared capable of unravelling the Newcastle defence at will from quick ball, and the English club's line led a charmed existence at times. Brian O'Driscoll should have used the supporting Girvan Dempsey on 16 minutes to guarantee the overlap deep inside the Newcastle 22, but instead threw a poor pass to Denis Hickie, forcing the winger to check and the opportunity went a begging.
Late in the half Hickie just needed to hold the pass when they exploited the shortside and a glaring overlap, but he fumbled the pass and another chance vanished. The Irish province turned over four balls on their own throw and were also guilty of similar largesse at several rucks: add careless handling to the cocktail and it's easy to understand Leinster's frustration at the interval.
They did score a brilliant try on six minutes. Victor Costello picked up and drove from a scrum in the Newcastle 22, Spooner's long cut-out pass went straight to Dempsey. O'Driscoll looped around the full back and his pass sent Hickie diving over in the corner. Spooner added the touchline conversion.
Newcastle responded within seven minutes, provided with the impetus by a Leinster turnover in the latter's 22. They Irish side should still have defended comfortably given the surfeit of defenders, but failed to track a simple cutback by Newcastle centre Tom May who scampered over under the posts.
Spooner disappeared soon after, O'Meara kicked a penalty, Wilkinson posted a similar strike and Inga Tuigamala stamped buffalo like on a couple of occasions.
The teams went in at the interval locked at 10-10. Now down to a 40-minute game to determine the winners, Leinster started the stronger and were rewarded with a try from scrumhalf Willis five minutes after the re-start. On the intervention of a touch judge Newcastle were wrongly awarded a scrum - centre May knocked on - but Leinster put on a wheel and from their put-in Willis angled outside Wilkinson to score: O'Meara kicked a fine conversion.
Soon after Wilkinson guaranteed a bad night for outhalves when he was escorted off injured having finished second best in a collision with Trevor Brennan: he did return 15 minutes later though.
The Leinster pack raised their game considerably, the entire eight dominating their opponents, particularly in the simple philosophy of picking and going straight through the heart of their opponents who seemed more intent on cluttering the midfield corridors.
But for all the work of the excellent Brennan, Malcolm O'Kelly, Leo Cullen and Costello, and a couple of superb breaks from Horgan, Leinster's propensity for errors in sight of the Newcastle line continued to thwart them.
Inevitably, Newcastle would have their period of ascendancy and five times they opted to kick penalties inside the Leinster 22 to touch: five times the Irish province held firm.
Trevor Brennan's sin-binning on 74 minutes for killing the ball was predictable in that Welsh referee Graham Simmonds had warned Leinster a couple of times, and the penalty count was rattling along in Newcastle's favour. The closing exchanges resembled the Alamo from a Leinster perspective: time and again Newcastle got to within inches of the Leinster line.
That Newcastle would score seemed inevitable and so it came to pass on 79 minutes when Tuigamala took advantage of a gaping hole and the Leinster cover drifted wide. Wilkinson amazingly missed the conversion but Newcastle were far from finished. They spun the ball in desperation and from inside their 22, but the move petered out when right wing Michael Stephenson was bundled into touch at the corner flag.
How they lined out
NEWCASTLE: D Walder; M Stephenson, J Noon, T May, I Tuigamala; J Wilkinson, H Charlton; M Ward, C Balshaen, G Graham; H Vyvyan, S Grimes; J Dunbar, P Lam, R Devonshire. Replacements: G Maclure for Wilkinson (52-62 mins temp); I Peel for Graham (63 mins); R Arnold for Dunbar (63 mins); C Hamilton for Vyvyan (68-72 mins temp).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; N Spooner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, P Wallace; L Cullen, M O'Kelly; T Brennan, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: B Willis for Spooner (22 mins). Yellow card: T Brennan (Leinster) 74-84 mins.
Referee: G Simmonds (Wales).
Scoring sequence
6 mins: Hickie try, Spooner conversion 0-7
13 mins: May try, Wilkinson conversion 7-7
22 mins: O'Meara penalty 7-10
27 mins: Wilkinson penalty 10-10
Half-time: 10-10
45 mins: Willis try, O'Meara conversion 10-17
79 mins: Tuigamala try 15-17
Full-time:15-17
Pool Six: How they stand
P W D L F A Tr P
Leinster 5 5 0 0 132 61 14 10
Toulouse 5 2 0 3 108 139 8 4
Newport 5 2 0 3 105 124 7 4
Newcastle 5 1 0 4 100 121 6 2
Newcastle ... 15
Leinster ... 17
