Newcastle 16-24 Northampton: Saints victorious at Kingston Park
Last Updated: 06/11/16 5:42pm
Northampton Saints started their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign with a 24-16 win against Newcastle Falcons at rain-soaked Kingston Park.
A 76th minute try by centre Rory Hutchinson ultimately sealed the victory for Saints after Newcastle had pulled the match back to 19-16 with 12 minutes remaining.
Saints had been in the driving seat thanks to a 38th-minute try by England Under-20 winger Tom Collins, plus four penalties and a conversion by fly-half Sam Olver. Newcastle's only other points had come courtesy of three Mike Delany penalties.
One of the most experienced men on the pitch, 34-year-old former All Black Delany, opened the scoring for Newcastle, slotting a penalty directly in front of the posts after four minutes.
The hosts enjoyed the better of the early exchanges but Northampton levelled in the eighth minute when the Falcons defence drifted offside and Olver slotted the penalty.
Olver was wide of the mark with a drop-goal attempt and also struck the woodwork with a penalty as the visitors started to get into their stride.
However, the Northampton stand-off made no mistake from close range to give his team a 6-3 lead in the 27th minute.
Saints claimed the opening try two minutes before the interval as Luther Burrell made a line break in midfield from crisp line-out ball and Tom Collins finished off the move.
Olver's conversion made it 13-3 to Northampton and, although a second Delany penalty in first-half overtime fleetingly cut the lead, Olver's third penalty success restored their 10-point advantage four minutes after the restart.
It took Newcastle until the 57th minute to make any inroads, Delany's third penalty making it 16-9.
Next, another three points from Olver nudged Northampton's lead to 19-9 and they were to be grateful for the cushion when full-back Alex Tait scored under the posts and Delany added the extras for the Falcons.
That left Saints hanging on to a 19-16 advantage - until Tait failed to deal with a grubber kick and Hutchinson touched down.
