ACC, r4: Montauban beat group leaders Newcastle to keep quarter-final hopes alive

18 December 2009

Montauban withstood a second-half fightback by Newcastle Falcons to record a 24-19 home win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the ACC quarter-finals.

The hosts surged 16-6 ahead by half-time at the Stade Sapiac, with Julien Audy's three penalties and a conversion adding to a 22nd-minute try by hooker Grégory Arganese.

Pool five leaders Newcastle Falcons replied with two penalties from Jimmy Gopperth, with the Kiwi adding another just four minutes after the resumption to narrow the gap to seven points.

Montauban's response was immediate, with winger Adrien Figueiredo intercepting in his own 22 before haring away to touch down on 48 minutes and give the home side further breathing space in a game they knew they had to win.

Amlin Challenge Cup - Pool results and tables

At that point the Guinness Premiership visitors looked like returning back to England empty handed, but replacement scrum-half Mathieu Belie's yellow card proved crucial, with the visitors using their numerical advantage to set up Springbok centre Gcobani Bobo for a 64th-minute try - his first for the club - which Gopperth converted to leave the score 21-16 going into the final quarter of an hour. Belie than landed a 75th penalty to ease home nerves, but Gopperth's fourth successful penalty in response - just three minutes from time - was enough to earn Newcastle what could turn out to be a crucial defensive bonus.

And yet Montauban had the chance to deny Newcastle that defensive bonus when they were awarded a straight-forward pot at goal with the last kick of the game, only for the home side to go in search of a third try instead. Coach Marc Raynaud looked on in disbelief from the sidelines as Montauban effectively gifted Newcastle their extra point.

It means that Newcastle - who won the first match 17-6 - remain top of Pool five, three points ahead of Montauban with just two games to go. It also means that Montauban will now be looking to Top 14 rivals SCA Albi to help them in their quest to qualify as they play host to Newcastle in the next round before travelling to Montauban for the final pool match.

Montpellier's chances of progressing, meanwhile, were dealt a blow by Pool 2 leaders Connacht Rugby, who beat Worcester Warriors 19-7 to make it four wins from four.

Bayonne's hopes of rescuing a troubled season with a European cup run were dashed by London Wasps on Thursday evening as the French side lost 3-12 at home to effectively end their interest in this year's Amlin Challenge Cup.

Wasps' win made it double joy for the London club - following last weekend's 22-18 home victory - and means they are now seven points clear in Pool 4 and obvious favourites to claim a quarter-final berth.

Bayonne, meanwhile, must now re-focus all of their energies on Top 14 survival as they seek to make up for a woeful first half to the season. The Basques are currently 13th in the French league and in serious danger of being relegated to ProD2 if they don't halt their slide. They have now lost six of their last seven games - as well as six of their last seven league games - and the recent change of head coach (with Thierry Mentières taking over from Richard Dourthe - does not appear to have stopped the rot. 

Thursday's match was a must-win game if they hoped to progress in the ACC but they came unstuck as Wasps' fly-half Dave Walder kicked the visitors to victory. Walder landed a brace of first-half penalties to put the visitors 6-0 up at the interval, and he subsequently added a third penalty and a drop-goal to complete the win after the break.

Wasps' victory was based on forward dominance, and they even managed to overcome the temporary loss of two players as both Serge Betsen and George Skivington were yellow carded - in the 38th and 51st minutes respectively. It was a mixed night for Betsen, the former France international and Biarritz flanker, but it certainly ended happily enough for the Wasps captain.

Bayonne's only response came via a Cédric Garcia penalty midway through the second half.

It was a different story for fellow Top 14 strugglers Bourgoin, however, as they ran in five tries to secure a 31-10 bonus-point home win against Rugby Parma.

The victory lifted them top of Pool 1, five points ahead of Leeds Carnegie, who are at home to Bucuresti Oaks on Sunday. It now looks like the group will go down to the wire with Bourgoin's final match away to Leeds likely to decide which club goes on to the quarter-finals.

Argentine centre Matias Viazzo got the scoreboard ticking when he touched down for the game's opening try after just two minutes, and the hosts were 14-0 ahead within 10 minutes following a further try from prop Sylvain Charlet. Fly-half Benjamin Boyet was on target with both conversions, and Parma's already difficult task was made even harder when hooker Alvaro Tejeda was yellow-carded in the 12th minute.

But Bourgoin only added one more try before half time, with 22-year-old full-back Mael Moinot going over in the 20th minute. Boyet again added the extras, before Parma finally registered their first points courtesy of Francesco Mazzariol's 30th-minute penalty.

Visiting flanker Francesco Minto became the second Parma player to see yellow - just two minutes after the resumption - but the Italian side temporarily narrowed the gap further when winger Ignacio Martin scored a 66th-minute try, which Mazzariol converted.

The try galvanised Bourgoin into action again and, amid a flurry of substitutions, they managed two more scores before the end with Jean-Francois Coux and Coenraad Basson both going over in the final 12 minutes.

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