Luscombe try seals win and keeps Gwent Cup hopes alive

Edinburgh 13 Gwent Dragons 17

Gunners had recovered well to cancel out the early lead of the Welsh side, but there was no way back after Hal Luscombe had powered in for the visitors’ second try after the break.

The first half was packed with action and controversy as the sides turned round level at 10-10.

Dragons were back in control during the first 10 minutes after the restart as Edinburgh seemed to lose momentum.

A try looked a certainty when Luscombe hurtled down the touchline towards the corner, but the Gunners were reprieved as Kevin Morgan was unable to cling on to the inside feed.

They made ample amends two minutes later by setting up one of the most exciting tries of the tournament so far. Sione Tuipulotu crashed through the midfield defence and charged deep into enemy territory where Morgan acted as the link.

Montgomery darted in-field and unselfishly offloaded for Luscombe to cruise in. Paterson clipped over his second penalty to close the gap to four points, but Gwent held firm.

Newcastle 19 Perpignan 14

NEWCASTLE held on in a nervous finish to move in pole position in their Heineken Cup pool with a hard-earned win over Perpignan at Kingston Park.

The Falcons led 16-8 at the break courtesy of Mathew Tait’s converted try and three penalties from Matt Burke. Fly-half Manny Edmonds scored a try and a penalty for the 2003 finalists, who blew a golden try-scoring chance at 19-11 down with five minutes left.

They had to settle for a bonus point via Nicolas Laharrague’s drop goal.

Replacement Diego Giannantonio made it 16-11 with a penalty for Perpignan before Walder got one five minutes from the end of normal time.