Newcastle upset Northampton 26-25 in Aviva Premiership thriller

Andy Goode celebrates at the final whistle

Newcastle gave their hopes of avoiding relegation a huge boost by holding off a Northampton comeback to win 26-25 at Kingston Park on Sunday.

It was the Falcons' fifth straight home win in the Aviva Premiership, but they made hard work of it in the second half, most of which they led 26-11.

Andy Goode booted 16 points for the hosts and Alex Tait and Chris Harris scored tries, whilst Lee Dickson scored two for Saints and Jamie Gibson one.

Newcastle had already had an early try chalked off by the TV referee but on seven minutes, Tait crossed after a series of forward drives and Goode's long cut-out pass.

Goode converted, but Saints hit back when flanker Gibson smashed his way through for a 13th-minute try.

Newcastle's Alex Tait celebrates after scoring the first try

Stephen Myler may have missed the conversion but slotted a 19th-minute penalty for an 8-7 lead, Goode replying in kind with a three-pointer of his own.

Dickson was fortunate to escape sanction when his boot came into contact with Ally Hogg's head and the No 8 was forced to leave the field for treatment.

Ref Wayne Barnes then awarded a penalty which allowed Myler to put the visitors back in front in the 27th minute.

Goode offloads after being tackled by Northampton's James Craig

After a run by Marcus Watson, Simon Hammersley's deceptively gangly style twice opened up the Saints defence and the full-back nearly scored in the corner.

He was stopped just short, but powerful centre Harris snapped the ball up to score and Goode converted for Newcastle to lead again 17-11 on the half-hour.

Then he added a penalty when Northampton wheeled the scrum for the Falcons to lead 20-11 at half time.

Goode was on target again with two successful kicks in three minutes to make it 26-11 early in the second half.

But then came the Northampton fightback.

Northampton's Lee Dickson dives over for a try, despite the attention of Scott Lawson

Scrum-half Dickson wriggled over from a five-metre scrum and JJ Hanrahan converted to make it 26-18.

Newcastle's pack was showing signs of strain and three penalties in a row had them back in their own 22 - and under pressure from another scrum penalty and a line-out in the corner, Dickson squeezed over for his second try and Hanrahan converted to trim the lead to 26-25 in the 68th minute.

Northampton threw on their big guns, including Victor Matfield, and it looked as if they would snatch victory with a line-out in the Newcastle 22 with 14 seconds on the clock, but Newcastle turned the ball over and cleared it into the delirious crowd.