Newcastle Falcons head coach Alex Codling said his side paid the price for failing to back up their promising start on Friday as they fell 57-18 to Benetton at Kingston Park.

The in-form Italians rallied from 10-0 down to secure all five EPCR Challenge Cup points on a freezing cold evening on Tyneside, eliminating the Falcons from the tournament in the process.

Speaking after the game, Codling said: “I thought in the first 20 minutes we were somewhere near where I want us to be as a team.

“We hit the line at pace, moved the point of contact and got close to the try-line on several occasions, but it just summed up our season in that we made too many errors.

“As proud as I was of the spirit we showed away to Saracens and how we played in the opening quarter tonight, I’m disappointed by the 60 minutes which followed.

“This game is about momentum and we started with lots of it, we looked really dangerous and had some good ball-in-hand. We got close to the try-line but we coughed the ball up, and as I’ve said several times this season, this game is unforgiving.

“You get punished when you make mistakes, and I’m hugely disappointed for the supporters who turned up this evening and got behind the lads. That’s not what we’re about as a team, it’s not an acceptable performance and we have to put it right.”

Determined to rectify the Falcons’ win-less run, Codling said: “It’s not an experience I’ve ever had in my long playing and coaching career – losing this many games in a row.

“It’s not enjoyable for anyone at the club, be it coaches, players, support staff and most importantly all of our fans.

“We don’t want to be in this position, and invariably when you’re in a run like this the players feel more pressure. You make an extra pass you wouldn’t normally make, you a drop a ball you wouldn’t normally drop and the errors we were making in the second half just shouldn’t be made at this level.

“Ultimately we got punished for it, but I also want to pay massive credit to Benetton because I thought they were excellent tonight. They’re second in the URC for a reason, they looked after the ball way better than we did and they punished our many errors.”

Asked if he could find any positives from the game, the head coach said: “I thought Callum Chick led the side exceptionally well again, as he has done all season, to be fair.

“He’s started all but one of our games and he’s put in a massive shift, and I know he’ll be feeling it like we all are. There’s no easy way out, we’ve picked up more injuries tonight but we’ll just have to dust ourselves down and get on with it. We’ll continue to work hard, because we’ve got to fix it.

“Tonight is a pretty painful experience and we’re all feeling it. I can only apologise to our supporters for the 60 minutes which followed a really positive opening 20, and I’ll continue to work hard like all the rest of our staff to try and move the club forward.”

Newcastle Falcons’ next game is on Friday February 9 when Edinburgh visit Kingston Park in a friendly match.

The 7.45pm kick-off is not included on the season ticket or parking pass, with tickets available by clicking here.