Newcastle Falcons extended their winning run to six on the bounce against Harlequins at Kingston Park on Sunday, in the clash of the Guinness Premiership's two form teams.

Both sides had come in to the game with a record of five successive wins, but tries by Tim Visser and a last-minute touchdown from fly half Tom May ensured it was the Falcons who took their streak to six.

May's touchline conversion with the last kick of the game even denied Quins a bonus point for their efforts, with fullback Mike Brown having drawn them to within a single point with a 78th-minute try.

With the spring sunshine beating down and a rare firm track at Kingston Park, there was more ball in hand than during the dreary winter months, as Newcastle again relied on solid forward momentum before unleashing their strike runners.

Yet again a dominant scrum set the stage, with half back Micky Young sniping from the base to suck in defenders and drive the tempo, while back row runners Adam Balding, Brent Wilson and skipper Phil Dowson probed the wide open spaces.

As with the previous weekend's visit to Sale, Newcastle had to battle back from early penalties, two in this case from All Black fly half Nick Evans, before a Tom May penalty finally got the hosts on the board after 14 minutes.

With the Falcons pack gradually clicking in to gear, the opening try arrived midway through the half, with Young's penetrating run feeding May on a supporting line. No.8 Balding looked to be surging in to the left corner when some frantic tackling managed to hold him up just inches short, but a sublime flip pass out of the tackle from Balding fed in Dutch wing Visser, who held his shape well to dive just inside the corner flag.

May's touchline conversion attempt was thwarted by a stiff Kingston Park breeze, and when Evans slotted a third penalty for Quins to snatch a 9-8 lead, it looked as if Newcastle's early industry was all in vein.

But with the last kick of the half May sent over a penalty from 25 yards out on the right hand side to nick an 11-9 interval advantage, with the Falcons proving good value for their lead.

Just as they had finished the first half, Newcastle came out the livelier of the two sides for the second, Visser beating two men on half way with some neat footwork to race up to the 22.

With the retreating Quins defence at sixes and sevens, the Londoners' midfield strayed offside in front of the posts, giving May an elementary chance to extend the lead to five points with a penalty from ten metres.

Despite both sides giving it a go in the dry conditions there were no further scores until two minutes before time, by which stage there was a new man in the middle with referee Martin Fox leaving the play due to injury – Wayne Barnes stepping in. Harlequins kept probing away through electric winger David Strettle, but having lost Evans at half-time due to injury lacked the fluency behind the scrum as the Newcastle defence held firm.

The Falcons kept chipping away with Noon and May both making line breaks, skipper Dowson linking well down the blindside on a number of occasions whilst fellow flanker Wilson galloped away down the left wing showing great pace.

Still five points down, Quins twice turned down kickable penalties to go for line outs five metres from the Newcastle line, but solid set-piece defence kept the visitors at bay until two minutes from time, when incessant pressure finally told and fullback Mike Brown sniped over from close quarters.

Brown added his own conversion to get to within a single point, but with Quins forcing the issue in their own half and time having elapsed on the game clock replacement fly half Malone juggled a wayward pass, allowing opposite number May to scoop up the loose ball and sprint home for the deciding try.

May's conversion from just inside the right touchline sailed between the uprights, denying Harlequins a bonus point in the process as the Falcons recorded their sixth successive Guinness Premiership triumph.

Newcastle Falcons
Tries: Visser, May
Cons: May
Pens: May 4

Harlequins
Tries: Brown
Cons: Brown
Pens: Evans 3

Newcastle Falcons:

15 Alex Tait
14 Andrew Fenby (Steve Jones, 70)
13 Jamie Noon
12 Tane Tu'ipulotu
11 Tim Visser
10 Tom May
9 Micky Young

1 Jon Golding (Micky Ward, 79)
2 Rob Vickers (Matt Thompson, 70)
3 Carl Hayman
4 Tim Swinson
5 Mark Sorenson (Geoff Parling, 53)
6 Phil Dowson (captain)
7 Brent Wilson
8 Adam Balding (Russell Winter, 62)

Harlequins:

15 Mike Brown
14 David Strettle
13 Gonzalo Tiesi
12 Jordan Turner-Hall (De Wet Barry, 62)
11 Tom Williams
10 Nick Evans (Chris Malone, 40)
9 Andy Gomarsall (Junior Poluleuligaga, 62)

1 Ceri Jones
2 Gary Botha (Tani Fuga, 62)
3 Mike Ross (Mark Lambert, 72)
4 Ollie Kohn (Jim Evans, 55)
5 George Robson
6 Chris Robshaw
7 Will Skinner (captain)
8 Tom Guest (Neil McMillan, 40)

Referee: Martin Fox (Wayne Barnes, 55)
Attendance: 7,705