Leicester (12) 15
Pens: Staunton 5
Newcastle (3) 6
Pens: Miller 2

Superb defence by Newcastle kept Leicester tryless yet again

Leicester marked the opening of their new stand with victory in front of 24,000 fans at Welford Road but have still not scored a try this season.

Four Jeremy Staunton penalties to one from Rob Miller gave the hosts a 12-3 half-time lead in the Premiership.

A further penalty apiece made it 15-6 after an hour but try as they might Leicester could not break their duck.

The champions crossed the line on three occasions but each time were correctly denied by referee Andrew Small.

The longer the game went on the more dominant Leicester became but they lacked the cutting edge to break down a hugely-committed Newcastle defence.

And although the fervent capacity crowd will have enjoyed the win, the Tigers' inability to score tries will be a big cause of concern for the champions and their fans.

Staunton landed an early penalty to give the hosts the lead but the Falcons soon hit back in similar fashion through Miller.

Newcastle tight-head Carl Hayman was giving Marcos Ayerza a torrid time at the scrum to help undermine the Leicester platform, but despite their struggles in the tight Staunton managed to land two more penalties for the hosts.

As half-time approached it was the Falcons looking the more dangerous side as fly-half Miller, who only turned 20 in August, combined well with Tongan-born centre Tane Tu'ipulotu.

But Leicester's defence, especially in front of their passionate fans, is nothing if not obdurate and after surviving a number of Falcons flurries they launched an attack of their own late in the half and a Staunton penalty made it 12-3 at the break.

The new stand is the second biggest single-tier stand in England behind Anfield's famous Kop

Newcastle were significantly handicapped by the loss of Hayman at the interval, but the visitors continued to fight for every blade of grass and they kept an early Tigers attack out with some ferocious defence despite the hosts coming within a foot of the tryline.

Staunton missed a fairly simple penalty chance to extend the lead after 45 minutes and Newcastle trimmed the gap to six points six minutes later.

When the game passed the 50-minute mark it meant the Tigers had gone a full 240 minutes since their last Premiership try - Jordan Crane's effort in the 2009 Premiership final win over London Irish.

That drought was extended to 259 minutes by the close.

In the 53rd minute they thought they had finally broken their duck, but the ball had bounced off referee Andrew Small before Tom Croft dived over.

Then, in quick succession, Staunton lost the ball in contact as he dived over from a tap penalty before a driving maul was then held up over the line as the drought continued.

Staunton added a fifth penalty to make the game safe but the hosts just could not break down the Falcons defence.

The noise was cacophonous every time the Tigers attacked but the crowd could not will their team over the line as Newcastle successfully blunted the Tigers' claws.

Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill on his team's lack of tries:
"Not scoring tries is a bugbear for all of us. We have got to ride the storm and work on our accuracy.

"Everyone is frustrated that we had opportunities but didn't take them. We turned the ball over, we battered their line, but we couldn't finish it off.

"We have got nine points from three games so there are teams in worse positions than us."

Falcons director of rugby Steve Bates:
"I am disappointed that we didn't squeeze a result but I am really proud of the performance.

"We were under a lot of pressure at times but the guys fought really well together. That is something we can build on and develop over the next couple of months.

"I think if we had a little bit more experience and composure we might have made it very close at the end."

Leicester: G Murphy; Hamilton, Smith, Allen, J Murphy; Staunton, Ellis; Ayerza, Davies, Castrogiovanni, L Deacon, Kay, Croft, Newby, B Deacon.
Replacements: Mauger for Smith (53), Youngs for Ellis (58), Parling for Castrogiovanni (58), White for L. Deacon (58), Pienaar for B Deacon (66).
Not Used: Duffy, Harris, Amorosino.

Newcastle: A Tait; Bobo, Vickerman, Tu'ipulotu, Biggs; Miller, Charlton; Golding, Vickers, Hayman, Hudson, Sorenson, Wilson, Williamson, Levi, Ward.
Replacements: Amesbury for Tu'ipulotu (65), Pilgrim for Charlton (73), Thompson for Vickers (41), Ward for Hayman (41), Swinson for Sorenson (47), Balding for Levi (47), Ovens for Ward (64).
Not Used: Catterick.

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