Newcastle Falcons picked up a precious bonus point, during an impressive display against Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership, on Friday night.

A vocal north-east crowd spurred the northeasterners on in this blood and thunder encounter, with both side's looking to play open attractive rugby.

Alan Tait’s men were applauded off the field following a confidence boosting performance which moves Newcastle ahead of Leeds in the battle for survival.

But it could have been so much better had England international Chris Ashton not crossed the whitewash in the corner, with just three minutes left on the clock.

Ashton plucked Stephen Myler’s long range pass out of the air and with a clear run to the line, the winger made no mistake with the score. However, a late touchdown was not going to dishearten the 5,000 plus following, as they showed their appreciation for the player’s at full-time.

Newcastle set the tempo from the start, with the men from Tyneside taking the game to their opponents in no-nonsense fashion. The forward pack galvanised as Jonny Golding, Tim Swinson and Euan Murray took the early hit-ups. And their efforts up front were rewarded on four minutes courtesy of a Jimmy Gopperth penalty, to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead.

The Kiwi goal-kicking supremo extended the Falcons advantage further, thanks to a penalty following an infringement at the ruck. 6-0 in front and Newcastle were on the charge as the Saints struggled to cope with the early onslaught.

Jim Mallinder’s star-studded unit were soon in possession with the likes of Dylan Hartley, ESPN man of the match Jon Clarke and Soane Tonga’uiha hitting the line at speed. Newcastle’s defensive rearguard was been tested to the limit, but held firm to force the mistake.

On 12 minutes the crowd roared as Gopperth side-stepped his marker to break the line and the New Zealander kept his head to take the tackle. From the breakdown Tane Tu’ipulotu spun his pass out wide to James Fitzpatrick who was hauled down just short of the line.

The Falcons continued their good work at the lineout with sponsor’s man of the match, Matt Thompson expertly throwing in for the tall figure of Andrew Van der Heijden to claim comfortably, and supply good ball for the backs.

Van der Heijden’s strengths at the lineout were not the only attribute on show, as the giant lock canvassed Tonga’uiha to the deck in emphatic style.

All the momentum was with Newcastle at this point but a sudden change in territory gave the Saints good field position. From the scrum Ben Foden took the ball from Myler, and the England full-back skipped in under the posts to score. Myler converted for a 7-6 lead.

Northampton went 10-6 ahead five minutes before the break with a Myler penalty which was the result of Newcastle not moving away from the ruck. The two side’s went into the break with the scores poised at 10-6 and the Kingston Park outfit will have been encouraged with their first-half performance.

Newcastle continued their encouraging start in the second period, getting on top of Mallinder’s men straight from the re-start. A sweetly struck penalty by Gopperth narrowed the gap to 10-9 in favour of the visitors.

With the scores poised at 10-9 Northampton desperately looked to break the Falcons defensive line but to no avail. Tait’s troops tackled for their lives during a sustained period in which the forwards hit Northampton hard and fair.

However, they were unable to stop winger Bruce Reihana touching down in the corner following a neat combination between Ben Foden and Jon Clarke. Myler failed with the extras with the score 15-9 to Northampton.

On 55 minutes Gcobani Bobo continued the theme for the night as he sized up Ashton with a shuddering midfield collision.

The video ref was called into action moments later to decide whether Rehana had touched down cleanly. But the try was ruled out as Rehana had been tackled just inches from the line thanks to Tom Catterick and Alex Tait’s efforts in defence.

This gave Newcastle real impetus and they were soon back up the field with the South Standers doing everything they could to suck the ball over the try line. Drive after drive, the Falcons made significant metres towards the line and referee Greg Garner immediately blew for a penalty to Newcastle.

Gopperth slotted home to reduce the arrears to 15-12. Eight minutes left and Newcastle battled their way up the field yet again with scrum-half Chris Pilgrim providing good service to the pack. Their endeavour in attack was rewarded with a penalty, which Gopperth expertly converted to level the score at 15-15.

But Northampton denied the home side two points in the closing minutes as Ashton dived over in the corner. Myler converted to give his side a 22-15 victory but the Falcons claimed a valuable point to move off the foot of the premiership table.

Newcastle

Tries:
Cons:
Pens: Gopperth (5)

Northampton

Tries: Foden, Rehana, Ashton
Cons: Myler (2)
Pens: Myler

Newcastle

1 Jonny Golding
2 Matt Thompson
3 Euan Murray
4 Tim Swinson
5 Andrew Van der Heijden
6 Mark Wilson
7 Will Welch
8 Ally Hogg

9 Chris Pilgrim
10 Jimmy Gopperth (captain)
11 Gcobani Bobo
12 James Fitzpatrick
13 Tane Tu’ipulotu
14 Alex Tait
15 Tom Catterick

Replacements

16 Rob Vickers
17 Grant Shiells
18 Kieran Brookes
19 Filipo Levi
20 Alex Gray
21 Joel Hodgson
22 Luke Eves
23 Rob Vickerman

Northampton

1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Dylan Hartley (captain)
3 Brian Mujati
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Christian Day
6 Calum Clark
7 Phil Dowson
8 Roger Wilson

9 Lee Dickson
10 Stephen Myler
11 Bruce Rehana
12 James Downey
13 Jon Clarke
14 Chris Ashton
15 Ben Foden

Replacements

16 Brett Sharman
17 Alex Waller
18 Tom Mercey
19 Mark Sorenson
20 Tom Wood
21 Stuart Commins
22 Shane Geraghty
23 Matt Cornwell