The Falcons made one change from the starting team that beat Sale a week ago, Andy Long coming in for Matt Thompson, with new arrival from South Africa Russell Winter on the bench, whilst Bath included England international Olly Barkley at centre a they looked to end a run of four successive defeats. Barkley missed an early penalty but then kicked his second attempt on seven minutes, as the Falcons were pushed back in the opening stages, losing a lineout on halfway and then being forced to clear when Bath attacked in out 22. Newcastle finally put together a good attack on the quarter hour. Lee Dickson fed Ben Woods who was turned over in the tackle, however the ball was won back and James Hoyle almost forced a way through. John Rudd and Woods then had chances before Tom May punted a snap, tight drop goal to level the scores. However, in the build-up play Mark Mayerhofler had been injured and so he was replaced with Joe Shaw. Bath hit back straight away with a penalty from Barkley, before slack Falcons passing allowed the hosts to steal the attack. We managed to clear, but Bath came back and Barkley snuck through a gap under the posts for the first try of the game, the England man converting his own score. Rudd was again on the attack on the left, and as the Falcons came left we knocked on in the maul. Ben Woods was sin-binned for hands in the ruck minutes before half time, and after Barkley missed the penalty, a Matthew Burke kick reduced the deficit on the whistle, leaving the score at 13-6 at half time. After half time Chev Walker, making his first Bath start after a move from League, got away but our hosts were pulled back for a scrum. It wasn’t all going better for the Falcons as Tom May misjudged a kick and kneed the ball into touch in his own 22m however fortunately we were able to turn over. The Falcons came more into the game, winning a lineout in the Bath 22 before referee Sean Davey gave Bath an inexplicable (to us anyway) free kick though seconds later the Rec faithful were themselves baffled at us being a penalty. Samoan Loki Crichton moved the ball around skillfully all afternoon, but the chip for Rudd was cleared up. All we could muster during this period of possession was a third Burke penalty. As old KP favourite Michael Stephenson and new Falcons signing Russell Winter entered the fray from the bench for their teams, the breakthrough from the Falcons finally came on 64 minutes, when a kick was blasted towards the left corner of the field, and in the melee (I was at the opposite corner of the ground, almost at pitch level!) Shaw capitalized on a loose ball to for a try which, although unconverted as Burke knocked his kick wide, put the Boys ahead by a slender 13-14. It was only to last a few minutes, as Bath repeated their winning trick from March by driving former Falcon David Barnes over from a penalty lineout for a converted score. It was to prove decisive as the Falcons just could not get themselves a fluent and penetrative attack going in the last ten minutes. Bath were the victors 20-14.

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