Sarries shoot down Falcons

Saracens overcame a battling Newcastle display to keep up the pressure on leaders Leicester at the top of the Premiership table.

With almost an hour on the board Sarries led just 11-9 against the struggling Falcons, but they roared clear in the closing stages.

Newcastle made a dreadful start to the contest as they put the kick-off straight out then collapsed the resultant scrum on half-way, all inside 45 seconds. And Saracens had to wait just six minutes for the first try as James Short crossed on the left after Alex Goode's break up the wing and neat pass inside to Chris Wyles.

Jimmy Gopperth had an opportunity to get Newcastle on the scoreboard when Saracens offended at a scrum on half-way, but his penalty attempt was wide.

Goode was more successful with the boot on 17 minutes and got Newcastle on the board after a Saracens offside.

The visitors were forced to defend for long periods, but kept their line intact as Saracens failed repeatedly to produce a scoring finish.

A third miss from four shots at goal by Goode in the 32nd minute did not help the home side's cause.

In fact their lead was reduced when Gopperth finally got Newcastle in the hunt with a penalty for offside in the 34th minute.

The first half, punctuated by a series of re-set scrums, ended with a change of home kicker as Owen Farrell took over from Goode - and promptly delivered with a 40-metre shot on the stroke of half-time.

Newcastle made a strong start to the second half, Gopperth scoring their second penalty just four minutes in.

Stormed back

Saracens stormed back and won a scrum in front of the visitors' posts, but attacking wide left, skipper Steve Borthwick knocked-on.

Newcastle kept battling away and cut the deficit again on 53 minutes following another careless offside as Gopperth knocked over his third penalty.

But the margin was widened again within minutes when Farrell landed a long-range shot from the half-way line.

Saracens were failing to find much attacking rhythm following their three-week lay-off, but they got a boost on 61 minutes when Ally Hogg was sin-binned for deliberately killing attacking ball.

Farrell made no mistake in the 67th minute, steering home a penalty awarded for Newcastle charging into a ruck from the side.

The visitors' resistance finally broke when Noah Cato made a thundering surge for their line on the left. It took three defenders to halt the wing, and Saracens took advantage of the gaps to send Jared Saunders in for their second try, with Farrell converting.