Aviva Premiership: Wasps beat Newcastle to edge closer to play-off
London Wasps overcame a dreadful start to virtually guarantee a place in the European Champions Cup play-off.
Last Updated: 03/05/14 8:32pm
Trailing 17-0 early in the piece, they recovered to blitz the Falcons with 29 unanswered points before the interval.
Remarkably, Newcastle rallied to regain the lead at 31-29 before Wasps regrouped to gain a deserved success.
Nathan Hughes scored two of the home side's six tries, with Ashley Johnson, Will Helu, Charlie Hayter and Joe Simpson all crossing.
Newcastle scored early tries through Mike Blair and Joel Hodgson, with Hodgson converting both and kicking a penalty as an upset looked on the cards.
A four-try blitz from Wasps looked to have sealed vistory, but to their credit the Falcons recovered to score three second half tries, Noah Cato touching down twice along with George McGuigan.
Despite their defeat, Newcastle did at least retain their Aviva Premiership place as Worcester were hammered at Saracens.