It was Newcastle who started the better, putting Bristol under pressure and driving close to the Bristol line before the generally good defence was able to force a turnover.  However Bristol contrived to put themselves back under pressure with the now familiar pattern of poor lineouts.  This was compounded by Dan Ward-Smith attempting what might generously be described as an optimistic offload that Josh Taumalolo was unable to take.  Bristol survived this period and were able to exert some degree of control with a strong scrummaging performance.  To ironic cheers a lineout was eventually won and it enabled David Hill, who looked far more comfortable in the inside centre role, to find a gap.  He fed Rob Higgitt, who more effective in attack with Hill as his fellow centre, who got the ball to David Lemi.  He, in turn got the ball to Matt Salter who offloaded to the returning Alfie To'oala who had the pace and power to go over from 20 metres out.  Jason Strange converted to give a 7 - 0 lead with 15 minutes played.

Strange was soon to add a fine penalty kick following good work by the forwards and a neat break by Brian O'Riordan and it was 10 - 0.  Newcastle were fortunate not to concede further points when a Strange kick bounced ‘strangely' wrong footing the Falcons full-back Burke.  Lemi took the ball and was backed up by Ward-Smith who was halted by the desperate defence..  He, rightly, elected not to sling out another hopeful pass but Bristol's support play was just too slow and Newcastle escaped when the referee gave the inevitable penalty for holding on.  The Falcons then got their first points with a great penalty kick from Matt Burke from just inside the Bristol half and it was 10 - 3.

Bristol were clearly dominant at the set pieces and boldly opted for a scrum when awarded a free-kick on the Falcons 22.  The worked the ball well and Higgitt almost broke through before Newcastle were awarded the scrum as the ball was knocked on.  The scrum was an excellent one for Bristol, forcing the Newcastle pack and their defensive backline out of alignment.  A ruck formed and the Bristol pack continued their good work by forcing a turnover.  Hill made a break that went close before O'Riordan picked up to go over the line for his first Premiership try, with Strange unerring with the conversion.  17 - 3.  Newcastle were quick to reduce the gap when Bristol were penalised at the ruck and Burke launched another excellent kick from 30 metres and a half time score of 17 - 6.

Bristol deserved the lead after an entertaining half.  Falcons had other ideas and started the second in similar vein to the first.  Bristol's defence was able to contain the initial attacks and even launch dangerous counter attacks via Hill and To'oala.  The first points of the half came from the boot of Strange when Newcastle went offside after some good attacking play by Bristol  20 - 6 with nearly 50 minutes gone.  Burke almost cancelled out this effort with another long range penalty attempt, and Bristol failed to learn the lesson when he was on target just a few minutes later to narrow the gap to 20 - 9.

Bristol really seemed to go off the boil at this point, perhaps complacent.  For whatever reason, Newcastle scented the opportunity to get right back in the game.  They forced their way down to the Bristol 22 and the pack battered the Bristol defence until Burke was able to squeeze in at the corner despite the efforts of Tom Arscott and magical replacement hooker David Blaney.  Burke converted his try to make the score 20 - 16 after 62 minutes and set up a tense final quarter.  In the past, Bristol sides would have contrived to throw the game away, but this side is made of sterner stuff and able to defend as well as any.  It looked as if the task would become even more difficult when Arscott received a nasty head injury with 15 minutes to go.  Surprisingly he stayed on the pitch, despite looking distinctly unsteady.  At least this saved Bristol having to see out the game with a re-jigged backline.  In any event the ball was largely kept away from the backs as the Bristol pack returned to basics and so effectively that instead of Newcastle putting Bristol under pressure the final scoring chance went to Bristol with another Strange penalty with five minutes to go.  The score stood at 23 - 16.  There was a last defiant flurry from the Falcons that Bristol contained and, with the clock counting down to zero the pack took charge of the ball, Strange reminded O'Riordan of the time and the ball was kicked dead to halt the game.

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