BATH 21 NEWCASTLE 8

Bath remained on top of Anglo-Welsh Cup Pool 1 with victory over the Falcons at the Rec.

It was a scoreless first half, low in quality and high in mistakes. The Falcons had by far the better chances to break the deadlock.

After a fine Juan Pablo Socino offload, Simon Uzokwe went close to scoring but knocked on as he eagerly tried to lay the ball back for a team-mate.

Ally Hogg thought he had scored in the 28th minute after carrying low to the deck, but referee Mike English immediately disallowed the effort, ruling he’d been held by at least one Bath hand.

In the 51st minute, the crowd finally got what they wanted – a try from the men in blue, black and white.

The hosts attacked from a scrum before Grant twisted and turned his way out of contact to score. Burns slotted the simple conversion.

It didn’t take long for Falcons to rack up their first points of the game when Joel Hodgson punished a high tackle 40 metres from the Bath tryline.

Quick hands from Ben Tapuai and Grant set Matt Banahan free down the left and his looping offload was gathered by hooker Charles for a converted try.

Three minutes later Newcastle were back in the contest. After breaking into the Bath half, No. 8 Ryan Burrows found dangerous winger Adam Radwan, who was well-tackled by JackWilson but managed to find replacement CraigWillis on his inside. The conversion was missed; meaning Falcons trailed by five.

The hosts put the result beyond doubt three minutes from time. After softening up the visitors with a rumbling maul, man-of-the-match Burns found Jack Wilson with a pinpoint crossfield kick.

The unmarked winger did not even need to break stride as he flopped over the tryline.