I was as confident as one can be when his team and second bottom and away from home, and the 200 or so Geordies who made the long trip to the South West were probably even more confident thanks to 40 boxes of free beer.

But did anyone expect what did actually happen at the Memorial Stadium last night? I certainly didn't.

The tone was set in the opening minutes when the Falcons attacked with a pace and energy rarely seen this season, and Danny Williams (or Wilson, as the Bristol commentator behind me kept calling him) went through to score on the right – or not, due to a forward pass.

Tom May's penalty put us ahead though, and after a high ball from Alex Tait caused confusion on the edge of the 22, we drove to the line and Geoff Parling forced his way over in the corner, May hitting the difficult conversion sweetly. 0-10 already!

This seemed to wake Bristol up as they began to attack and break through some dubious Newcastle tackling, and the home crowd raised their voices in an attempt to drown out the Geordie hordes.

May and his opposite number Ed Barnes exchanged further penalties, and May's boot extended our lead to 3-16 at half time following an excellent performance in the first 40.

But the job was only half done. The promise o a 13^th season of Premiership rugby was within our grasp if only we could survive the inevitable Bristol onslaught after the break. Surely we couldn't hope for an even better second half. Could we?

Kicking of towards the clubhouse end of the Memorial Stadium, Bristol quickly won a penalty which Barnes mis-kicked and sent wide, but the Falcons quickly went forward again, May missing a kick of his own.

We weren't to be denied further points however, with Ed Williamson and Brent Wilson, the latter just minutes after he came on to test tired home legs, both scoring tries to all but seal our win along with a second conversion by May.

In between the scores, Bristol's only real visit to our try-line led to a dangerous drive, but some absolutely heroic deeding kept our rivals out. As time ebbed away, so did any hope Bristol had of a comeback and, likely, avoiding relegation.

Andy Perry's bonus point try was the cherry on the icing on the £5.50 slice of carrot cake, making a firm statement to the rest of the Premiership that we ain't going nowhere!

Except, at the moment, the heady heights of ninth in the table, although Wasps and Worcester both have two games in hand.

3-35! Who predicted that beforehand? Certainly not me. But our Falcons are nothing if not unpredictable and a first try bonus point for almost exactly SEVENTEEN MONTHS to pretty much secure our place in next season's Premiership is most welcome.

While not wanting to take away from a superb team performance, some individuals stood out, in particular Tait who played a clever kicking game, May for his intelligently use of the ball for the most part, Micky Young was aware and provided quick ball, and David Wilson and Carl Hayman were more than solid in the scrum.

The back row were fast and committed, the backs confident and energetic. Just a brilliant show all round.

Above all, we saw once again what happens when this team plays running rugby – not because they 'should', but because it's the style with which we have the best chance of winning.

It may have been a game against the bottom team, but I we can win 3-35 in Bristol, then we are certainly capable of at least tight wins against most if not all of the other teams in this league and so should look to the rest of the season with confidence.

Starting next Friday against Saracens, on the same night Bristol travel to Sale. Any small, lingering doubts as to our league status (there are still 45 points to play for after all) should be settled with a win against the Fez Boyz.

It's just gone 11.45pm, I should be home in another two hours, but those travelling back to Newcastle by road will take a little longer. Well done to all of you for making so much noise, and to the club for paying for four coaches – you were all certainly well rewarded!  I don't think any of us who were in Bristol last night will ever forget this game.

And after our last two league games, I'm sure we'll all have a little spring in our steps as we walk into KP next Friday!

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