Director of rugby Steve Diamond praised the efforts of his Newcastle Falcons players despite losing Friday’s Prem Cup semi-final at home to Bath, but insisted the basics cost them dear in the closing quarter.

Leading by ten points going into the business end of a nail-biting encounter at Kingston Park, the Falcons fell 41-29 on the back of a late rally from their West Country visitors.

“The players did everything the coaching staff asked of them to get into a winning position, but we couldn’t close it out,” admitted Diamond.

“We were very good in the first 20 minutes, but we weren’t as clinical as Bath. Every time they came into our 22 they seemed to come away with something, and fair play to them for that.

“We came back from 19-15 down at half-time to go ten points up, but what sometimes happens with this team is they’ve forgotten how to win these close, big games.

“When you go into the car park for a fight you’ve got to know how to strangle somebody – metaphorically, of course – and we’re just not able to do it at the moment.

“We let them go, to be honest, and we didn’t get our basics right towards the end. We couldn’t kick accurately or take a high ball, and on the night it was a fair result. Bath did their basics better than us, and deserved their win.”

Looking back on the competition as a whole after ending the group stage as top seeds and beating Gloucester in the quarter-finals, Diamond said: “The Prem Cup has been a good tournament for us this season. We’ve enjoyed it, it’s been a momentum-builder and we’ve now got a few days off before two of the biggest games in the club’s history.

“We’ve got Sale at home in a fortnight and then Exeter away the Saturday after. The cup was a nice challenge and we genuinely threw everything at it, but the real goal this season is not to finish bottom of the Premiership.

“I’ve never finished bottom of the league in any of my 25 years in coaching, and I’m determined in my first full year at Newcastle not to do it. I genuinely believe we have it in us to pull away from the bottom over these next two games, and I’m not playing them down. They’re absolutely huge, and the players and supporters need to know that. This is a massive couple of weeks for the Falcons.”

Insisting his charges have it in them to finish the season strongly, the Falcons boss said: “We’ve enjoyed the cup run. These lads are an absolutely great set to work with, the camaraderie is incredible but we’ve got to learn how to win. If you’ve been in an environment where you’ve not won for donkey’s it becomes difficult, but we need to get over that hurdle. I thought tonight at 55 to 60 minutes we were heading in the right direction, but fair play to Bath for closing out the result.

“They’ve got an incredibly deep squad, and good luck to them, but we’ve got to look at ourselves rather than the opposition. How we sometimes allow the opposition to play, the penalties and opportunities we give them – it’s costing us games. We’re combative, undoubtedly, but it’s the basics that sometimes let us down.

“I’ve been pretty positive with the players in the changing room because they’ve had a decent cup campaign, but we’ve now got a few days off before returning with a massive focus for the next two games. I know the lads have got the mentality and the ability to get this job done – and let’s fly into it!

“We need the crowd behind us – I though they were fantastic tonight, by the way – and we need our players to be mentally on it. I’m sure they will be, and I truly believe we can progress up the league table.”