Newcastle Falcons picked up a crucial losing bonus point against Bath in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday afternoon thanks to a last gasp converted try from Will Chudley.

Chudley pounced on a loose pass which bounced off a Bath defender to scamper in for a try in the far corner to the delight of the visiting army of Falcons supporters.

Gopperth kept a steely nerve to nail his touchline conversion and help his side to  valuable point. 

Olly Barkley put the home side three up within the first minute by virtue of a penalty following an infringement at the ruck, before the Falcons had to withstand heavy pressure on their own line.

Wave after wave of attacks the Falcons repelled their West Country counterparts but on 18 minutes Olly Woodburn crossed for Bath with a well-executed touchdown in the corner. Tom Heathcoate was the architect for the hosts with a floating pass to Woodburn who did the rest. Barkley skewed his conversion wide and Sir Ian McGeechan’s outfit had an 8-0 advantage.

However, the rejuvenated Falcons unit, under the guidance of Gary Gold immediately responded in emphatic fashion thanks to a try from Mark Wilson.

The northeasterners took advantage of a Bath knock-on five metres from their own line and from the breakdown Jimmy Gopperth threw a looping pass to Wilson for a try in the left hand corner.

Gopperth’s audacious touchline conversion was successful to edge his side to within a point of Bath at 8-7.

The Falcons No.10 had the chance to demonstrate his expert kicking skills once more with a penalty from 35-metres out but the Kiwi skewed his attempt wide.

10 minutes from the break Gold’s unit took the lead with a converted try following patient build-up in the forwards.

Following an excellent Falcons scrum a series of drives ensued before Rob Vickers burrowed his way over the line and Gopperth converted for a 14-8 interval lead. 

The Falcons went close to a try with just a few minutes on the clock in the second-half. Gopperth’s grubber behind the Bath defensive line into the corner was almost gathered by Suka Hufanga with the try-line beckoning.

On 50 minutes Woodburn doubled his tally for the afternoon, racing onto a kick from prop Anthony Perenise to put sufficient downward pressure on the ball ahead of Hufanga. Barkley missed the conversion and Newcastle were still 14-13 in front.

Five minutes later the men from the rec were awarded a penalty try after former Falcon Tom Biggs was tackled without the ball by Gopperth, as he attempted to pick up the ball just inches from the whitewash.

Gopperth was subsequently sin-binned and Heathcote converted to put Bath 20-14 ahead.

Down to 14 men, the Falcons battled bravely and a magnificent Hufanga ankle tap denied a certain try for Bath on 65 minutes. But Bath made their extra man count when Perenise crashed over from close range. Heathcote added the extras from the touchline to extend his side’s lead to 27-14.

From the restart the Tyneside outfit edged their way up-field before been awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Gopperth duly obliged with to reduce the arrears to 27-17.

However, Heathcote restored Bath’s advantage with a penalty to make it 30-17 and he could have added more gloss minutes later but he spurned his penalty wide from bang in front of the uprights.

With the clock ticking down the Falcons threw everything at the Bath rearguard and with the last play of the game Chudley scampered in for the opportunist try. Gopperth’s crucial conversion secured a losing bonus point but based on the first-half performance it could have been so much more.

Bath: 15 Sam Vesty, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Francois Louw (c), 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.

Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Guy Mercer, 20 Josh Ovens, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Matt Carraro, 23 Nick Scott.

Newcastle:  15 Greg Goosen, 14 Ryan Shortland, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Suka Hufanga, 10 Jimmy Gopperth (c), 9 Chris Pilgrim, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Ally Hogg, 6 Will Welch, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Grant Shiells.

Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Jonny Golding, 18 James Hall, 19 Andrew van der Heijden, 20 Taiasina Tu'ifua, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Tom Bedford, 23 Joel Hodgson