Newcastle Falcons got their LV= Cup campaign up and running with a convincing 33-3 triumph over Cardiff Blues at Kingston Park.

A Greg Goosen Hat-trick coupled with Mark Wilson and Michael Mayhew touchdowns secured a confidence-boosting victory for Alan Tait’s men.

The Falcons, who named a strong outfit including Scotland international Euan Murray, overpowered their South Wales counterparts with a series of blistering attacks.

London Irish away now lies in wait for the Falcons next week in the second of the Anglo-Welsh double header, before the northeasterners turn their attention back to the Aviva Premiership with a trip to Northampton.

Newcastle got off to the perfect start with a try after just two minutes courtesy of Mark Wilson who crashed over from close range. Skipper for the night Jimmy Gopperth elected to go for touch with a penalty which provided good field position for the Falcons to score.

Kiwi Gopperth expertly converted to give his side a 7-0 lead to the delight of a vocal North East crowd. The Tyneside outfit continued to play an expansive, attacking style of play and on eight minutes Goosen extended the Falcons’ lead with a well-worked try.

Gopperth was the architect with a sublime line break and from the breakdown the ball was flung wide to the South African full-back who slid over in style.

Goosen doubled his tally for the night on 25 minutes with a further score following some quick-fire handling in the back division. Gopperth flung a looping pass out wide to Corne Uys who in turn neatly offloaded to the in-form Goosen to score. Gopperth added the extras for a 19-0 advantage.

There was no let-up from Newcastle as they continued their attacking prowess but Cardiff, to their credit, stood firm in the face of a barrage of pressure to go into the interval 19-0 behind.

On 50 minutes Goosen sealed a deserved hat-trick and the coveted man-of-the-match award with a try in the corner following a two versus one from the scrum. The delight etched on his face said it all as the Falcons nailed a bonus-point victory.

Cardiff registered some points on the board thanks to a Rhys Patchell penalty from bang in front of the posts.

But the North East unit put more gloss on the score-line 10 minutes later through hooker Michael Mayhew. He marked his first start in a Falcons jersey with a touchdown under the posts with the no-nonsense No.2 bulldozing his way through two would-be tacklers. Gopperth made no mistake with the extras to round off the scoring and give his side an impressive 33-3 win.

Saturday’s result ensures two successive home victories for the northeasterners, and Tait was pleased with what he saw from his troops.

He said: “Overall we are happy with the result, and we had a bit of a get-together in the changing room afterwards.

“We have a big game next week against London Irish and we want to keep this momentum going now.”

Newcastle: Greg Goosen; Rikki Sheriffe, Corne Uys, Jeremy Manning, Luke Eves; Jimmy Gopperth (capt), Jordi Pasqualin; Darren Fearn, Michael Mayhew, Euan Murray, Glen Townson, Andrew van der Heijden, Mark Wilson, Redford Pennycook, Ally Hogg.

Replacements: Joe Graham, Ashley Wells, James Hall, Tim Swinson, Will Welch, Will Chudley, Jamie Helleur, Joel Hodgson.

Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish; Richard Mustoe, Owen Williams, Cory Allen, Adam Thomas; Rhys Patchell, Rhys Downes; Nathan Trevett, Ryan Tyrrell, Ryan Harford, Cory Hill, James Downes (capt), Ellis Jenkins, Thomas Young, Luke Hamilton.

Replacements: Rhys Williams, Jamie Corsi, Thomas Davies, Matthew Screech, Rhys Shellard, Lewis Jones, Lewis Williams, Richard Smith.