Newcastle Falcons ended 2011 with defeat at home to Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership.

Tries from Tom May, Soane Tonga’uiha and a Ben Foden brace secured victory for Jim Mallinder’s outfit in front of a crowd of over 6,000.

The Falcons gave last season’s Heineken Cup runners-up a run for their money despite what the score-line suggests and Alan Tait will be hoping for a big effort from his side when Exeter Chiefs are in town next weekend.

Foden gave Northampton the perfect start on 10 minutes when he pounced on a neat dab into the corner to cross the whitewash and build on Ryan Lamb’s fifth minute penalty success.

Lamb’s touchline conversion extended Saints lead to 10-0 before the Falcons responded in emphatic fashion.

Jimmy Gopperth got the Kingston Park faithful on their feet with a line break which unleashed Suka Hufanga, but the Tongan winger was hauled down just short of the line.

Gopperth made sure that the Falcons’ pressure was converted into points with a penalty from in front of the posts to reduce the arrears to 10-3.

Hufanga’s endeavour in attack was rewarded with a touchdown on 20 minutes thanks to the creative flair of Gopperth.

Gopperth side-stepped his marker and broke the Saints rearguard with a neat turn of pace to set-up a try scoring opportunity.

From the breakdown the ball was flung wide to Hufanga who raced in for the try in front of a jubilant South Stand. Gopperth was unable to add the extras and the northeasterners trailed 13-8 at half-time.

The likes of James Hudson, Ally Hogg and man-of-the-match Will Welch set the platform for the try with a series of drives.

Newcastle came out for the second period determined to get the edge on their opponents and a Gopperth penalty goal gave his side a narrow 14-13 advantage.

But that would be the last of Newcastle’s scoring as the visitors proved too strong for the Tyneside unit with three five-point scores coupled with a Lamb penalty doing the damage.

First Foden raced onto a Lamb grubber to touchdown before Tonga’uiha crashed over to make it 25-14 with a quarter of the game left.

Newcastle underlined their desire to get themselves back into the game with Taiasina Tu’ifua going close to his first try since joining the club. Gopperth was the architect for the Samoan international with a drop of the shoulder and an offload but Tu’ifua was stopped in his tracks.

Second-half replacement Tim Swinson was sin-binned for a high tackle on Tom May with the Saints pressing home their numerical advantage with a late score from the latter.

Former Falcon May showed good support play to get on the end of a sweeping Saints move despite a suspicion that Hufanga had been impeded in the build-up.

Stephen Myler took over the kicking duties to convert May’s try for a 32-14 triumph.

The club would like to thank our fans for the fantastic support at Kingston Park and wish you a very happy New Year.

Tickets are available for next Saturday’s Aviva Premiership blockbuster against Exeter at Kingston Park by calling the Falcons Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060 or click here to purchase online.

Newcastle: Goosen; Manning, Fitzpatrick, Eves, Hufanga; Gopperth, Pasqualin; Shiells, Vickers, Murray; Hudson (capt), Fondse; Mayhew, Welch, Hogg.

Replacements: Graham, Wells, Frazier, Swinson, Wilson, Tu'ifua, Pilgrim, Catterick.

Northampton: Foden; Artemyev, Pisi, Downey, Elliott; Lamb, Dickson; Tonga'uiha, Hartley (capt), Doran-Jones; Manoa, Sorenson; Lawes, Dowson, Wilson.

Replacements: Haywood, Waller, Mujati, Day, Nutley, Roberts, Myler, Armstrong.