Having escaped the penalty scare, Flamurtari set about gaining an advantage to take into thesecond leg and were rewarded when Strati's half-volley from 20 yards found the bottom-left corner of the net.
The goalscorer was dangerous on theleft wing in thesecond half, producing several good crosses that Kolbeinn Sigtorsson failed to take advantage of, twice heading over the bar in the opening 15 minutes.
Tait got Newcastle's second try with two minutes left, but it offered little by way of consolation and did not takethe gloss of a powerful London Irish performance.