Northampton up and running after edging past winless Newcastle

Northampton earned their first Gallagher Premiership win of the season by beating winless Newcastle 16-14 at Kingston Park.

Curtis Langdon dotted down for the only try of the match in the second half, with Fin Smith adding the conversion and three more penalties.

The majority of the hosts’ points came via the boot of Brett Connon, who missed a late conversion to level the scores.

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But the away side prevailed – despite a late Iwan Stephens try and a yellow card for George Hendy – to hand their hosts a third defeat from three Premiership games.

Winger Adam Radwan made his 100th appearance for Newcastle, earning a big ovation when he emerged from the East Stand prior to the game.

Skipper George Furbank and Fraser Dingwall returned to the starting line-up for Saints, who were looking to make it five successive victories over their opponents.

The first 10 minutes proved an even affair, before Northampton conceded a penalty 35 metres from the posts for offside, with Connon taking the chance to nudge the Falcons ahead with the kick.

But they conceded a penalty of their own from a scrum in the 16th minute and Smith levelled the game at 3-3.

The two teams struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the half as the rain continued to pour in the north east.

Connon stepped up in the 27th minute to add to the score – a 40-yard penalty which sailed through the posts to put Newcastle back in front.

But the Falcons conceded another penalty at a ruck a minute from the end of the half, and Smith again scored to make it six apiece.

Connon had another opportunity eight minutes after the break, but his 100 per cent record came to an end as his effort went wide of the right-hand post.

And they were made to pay in the 54th minute when Tom Pearson burst through the home defence and offloaded to Langdon to dot down for the game’s first try.

Connon converted a 10-metre penalty on the hour mark to reduce the deficit to four points, but Smith again hit back with one of his own shortly after to increase his side’s lead to seven.

The Falcons eventually got their reward for a period of pressure when Stephens crossed on the left side after heroic defending from the Saints backline stopped Newcastle from going over initially.

But Connon hit the post with the tricky conversion, and his side could not take advantage of Hendy’s yellow card to find a way back.