Gallagher Premiership champions Northampton Saints claimed the Good Friday spoils in front of 6,100 supporters at Kingston Park, the home side having to content themselves with a hard-earned pair of bonus points.

The Falcons began brightly but trailed 28-10 at half-time, almost snatching an early lead when Cameron Neild intercepted in his own 22 and kicked downfield, Ben Stevenson hacking ahead but being foxed by the bounce of the ball.

They did not have long to wait to get themselves off and running – Murray McCallum breaking the defensive line before feeding front-row comrade Jamie Blamire for a textbook two-on-one try down the left.

Brett Connon added the conversion, but the sides were soon level once more when Saints hooker Craig Wright ghosted through a gap to score down the left – Rory Hutchinson slotting the conversion.

Parity lasted a mere minute as Newcastle surged straight to the other end and earned a penalty which Connon sent between the posts, and they were making gains as Neild floated a lovely pass out to Alex Hearle, who went close down the right.

The TMO denied Newcastle a second try when Callum Chick was ruled to have made a double movement from a close-range pick and go, and they were close to scoring once again when Hearle’s chip-and-chase freed Obatoyinbo for a run down the right which was halted just a metre from the line.

Northampton themselves had a try disallowed by the TMO when Wright crawled at the base of a maul, but there was no stopping Luke Green just after the half-hour when the prop charged over for a try to the right of the posts, Fin Smith converting for a four-point lead.

A two-try blitz in the closing moments of the opening half saw the Saints go marching into a 28-10 interval lead, Fin Smith accepting an offload for the first and wing Will Glister racing down the left for their bonus-point score.

The Falcons started the second half in much better fettle and found their way over the try-line just three minutes after the resumption – Connor Doherty rounding off a slick back-line play after hands along the line from right to left.

Northampton had a Tom Litchfield try ruled out by the TMO for a forward pass on 52 minutes, but the result was seemingly secured five minutes later when Tom James raced between the posts following a sequence of slick offloads.

The home side responded positively with a spell of pressure in the champions’ 22, and they were rewarded just before the hour mark when Alex Hearle powered through a tackle to score a converted try down the left-hand side.

Ben Stevenson followed that up with a try down the same wing when he accepted a wonderfully-floated pass from replacement hooker Ollie Fletcher for an unconverted score.

That left the deficit at eight points going into the final ten minutes, and there was late drama when Max Pepper raced 80 metres for a converted try which cut that down to one.

But the clock beat Newcastle’s best efforts at finding a winner, leaving them to make do with a pair of bonus points.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo (Max Pepper, 23), 14 Alex Hearle, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Max Clark (Sammy Arnold, 57), 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire (Ollie Fletcher, 64), 3 Murray McCallum (Richard Palframan, 47), 4 John Hawkins, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Cameron Neild (Ollie Leatherbarrow, 74), 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Scorers – Tries: Jamie Blamire, Connor Doherty, Alex Hearle, Ben Stevenson, Max Pepper. Conversions: Brett Connon 3. Penalties: Brett Connon.

Northampton Saints: 15 Rory Hutchinson, 14 Will Glister, 13 Burger Odendaal (captain), 12 Tom Litchfield, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 Charlie Savala (Fin Smith, 24), 9 Tom James (Alex Mitchell, 71); 1 Tom West (Tarek Haffar, 56), 2 Craig Wright (Henry Walker, 53), 3 Luke Green (Elliott Millar-Mills, 54), 4 Chunya Munga, 5 Tom Lockett, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 7 Tom Pearson (Juarno Augustus, 40), 8 Iakopo Mapu (Temo Mayanavanua, 74).

Scorers – Tries: Craig Wright, Luke Green, Fin Smith, Will Glister, Tom James. Conversions: Rory Hutchinson, Fin Smith 4.

Referee: Luke Pearce. Attendance: 6,100.