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Newcastle’s Premiership misery goes on as Exeter end their wait for an away win
By PA
Exeter earned their first Gallagher Premiership away win in over a year with a 20-14 victory over Newcastle in a topsy-turvy game at Kingston Park.
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A frantic start saw the visitors hit the front through Immanuel Feyi-Waboso but tries from Jamie Blamire and Matias Moroni turned things around, before Henry Slade reduced the arrears to six points with a penalty.
However, Slade and Josh Isoefa-Scott dotted down after the break to complete the turnaround and condemn their opponents to a seventh defeat in as many league games.
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Victory meant the away side ended a barren run of 10 consecutive Premiership losses on the road, a run stretching back to October 7 last year, and also moved them back into the top four.
An unchanged Chiefs side travelled to the north-east on the back of a last-minute 25-24 win over Gloucester at Sandy Park.
Meanwhile, the hosts made seven changes to their starting 15, including a first Premiership start for 20-year-old fly-half Louie Johnson.
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Newcastle got off to the worst possible start when Feyi-Waboso touched down with less than 40 seconds on the clock but they responded five minutes later when Blamire took an offload and sidestepped a challenge to score.
Moroni then ran onto a chip from Iwan Stephens on the left to get the third try of a frantic opening seven minutes.
Injuries plagued the rest of the half, with Exeter’s Will Haydon-Wood introduced for try scorer Feyi-Waboso in the 11th minute but only lasting 10 minutes himself before limping off.
The breakdown went the way of Newcastle for most of the half, Guy Pepper proving a constant thorn in turning the ball over to the home side before he too went off injured.
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Slade thought he had reduced the deficit with a penalty from 35 metres, but the officials adjudged his kick was too high and ruled against him.
The same player made no mistake from the tee two minutes before the break, making it 14-8 going into the interval.
The England back then struck the opening blow of the second period in the 63rd minute, excellent work from winger Ben Hammersley giving Slade a simple finish.
He missed his third kick of the game with the conversion attempt but his side had all of the momentum and capitalised a few minutes later, Iosefa-Scott scoring from close range to give the visitors lead.
Slade added the extras to stretch the lead to 20-14 with 10 minutes to play and a losing bonus point was scant consolation for the hosts, who could not find the try they needed to move in front and remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Rugby at the Prem level should be plated on grass