Falcons maintain form
Newcastle continued their resurgent form to take a seventh win in eight games with an outstanding 14-10 victory as they brought Guinness Premiership leaders Leicester down to earth at Kingston Park.
The held on after establishing a 14-0 half-time lead through a try from centre Tane Tu'ipulotu and nine points from the boot of fly-half Tom May, who enjoyed a superb match with his astute tactical kicking punishing Leicester errors.
The Tigers got on the board through a Toby Flood penalty and grabbed a losing bonus point at the death as Ben Youngs capitalised on a chargedown to score.
Charlie Hodgson's 13 points helped Sale Sharks defeat fellow play-off hopefuls Bath 23-16.
Kingsley Jones' side moved to within two points of the West Country team, with fly-half Hodgson kicking two penalties and converting his own try.
It enabled the Sharks to end a poor run of four successive Guinness Premiership defeats to beat Steve Meehan's men.
England winger Mark Cueto made an immediate impact on his return to the team with a try for Sale, while Argentinian number eight Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe also crossed the whitewash.
Bath's points came from the boot of Ryan Davis and a try from flanker Jonathon Faamatuainu - whose last-minute score earned his team a losing bonus point which edges them ahead of Harlequins and into the top four.
