Electric start to new era with win for Newcastle

NEWCASTLE Red Bulls began their new era in style, recording a bonus-point victory in front of 9,089 supporters on an electric evening at Kingston Park.

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The home side led 14-7 at the break, with the wall of black absorbing waves of early pressure, roared on by an all-time highest home PREM Rugby Cup crowd.

Newcastle grew into the game and were by far the more dominant of the two packs when the first score of the night arrived on 15 minutes, home captain George McGuigan steering over a driving maul in the left corner for a piece of rugby history.

‘The first ever Red Bulls’ try was converted by Brett Connon, and it was almost followed by a second in a matter of minutes when replacement Nathan Greenwood had a spectacular dive at the left corner ruled out by the TMO for a forward pass in the buildup.