Saturday 6 February 2016 17:14, UK
Jimmy Gopperth slotted a late penalty to earn lethargic Wasps a 9-8 victory over Newcastle at the Ricoh Arena.
Newcastle looked to have gained a crucial win in their fight against relegation as they led 8-3 heading into the final five minutes thanks to a try from Nili Latu and a penalty from Andy Goode.
However, three missed kicks from former Wasp Goode ultimately cost his side dear as Gopperth, having already nailed two penalties, fired over the decisive kick late on to earn his side the spoils.
Wasps suffered an early blow when lock James Gaskell was forced off after three minutes through injury, and the home side could have fallen behind soon after only for Goode to surprisingly miss his penalty from 30 metres.
Goode also failed with another straightforward attempt after 14 minutes as the match remained scoreless midway through the first half, with both sides struggling to come to terms with the testing conditions and strong wind.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 23rd minute when Wasps made good ground into the Newcastle 22 thanks to driving runs from Nathan Hughes and Young. The visitors were penalised for offside and Gopperth made no mistake with the kick.
The lead lasted just three minutes, though, with Goode successful from his third attempt at goal.
That was the score at the end of a desperately poor first half, although Wasps would have been the happier of the two teams as they would have the advantage of the conditions in the second period.
Within five minutes of the restart, Wasps thought they had scored the first try of the game when Christian Wade crossed after Gopperth and Dan Robson all kicked the ball in turn, but replays showed that Wade was marginally in front of Robson and the TMO ruled out the score.
Newcastle benefited from that reprieve when, in the 49th minute, Latu forced his way over from a driving lineout for what would prove to be the only try of the game.
However, Goode was again unable to find the target as his conversion attempt hit the post, leaving Newcastle just 8-3 ahead.
Newcastle suffered another blow in the 53rd minute when wing Giovanbattista Venditti was sin-binned for impeding Robson as he took a short penalty, which allowed Gopperth to kick his second penalty and leave Wasps trailing by two at the end of the third quarter.
Smith, Matt Mullan and Ashley Johnson were all introduced by the hosts to try to secure victory in the final 20 minutes but Wasps could find no rhythm.
Venditti returned from the sin-bin with no further damage to the scoreboard, but Newcastle were unable to hold on for a valuable win as Gopperth's late effort sneaked Wasps over the line.
