Newcastle recovered from going 17-3 down to defeat Northampton 46-31 in their Premiership clash at Kingston Park on Sunday.
Early tries from wing Ken Pisi and flanker Jamie Gibson bolstered by the boot of Stephen Myler capped off a great start for the visitors.
However, scrum-half Sonatane Takulua bagged a try, conversion and penalty to steady the ship for the Falcons in front of their support.
Harry Mallinder and Sean Robinson scored tries in the dying minutes of the first-half to bump the scores up to 15-24 going into the break.
But Newcastle went ahead for the first time in the match after scoring three tries early in the second-half through loosehead prop Rob Vickers and two more from the in-form Takulua.
Newcastle looked to be running away with the match as hooker Kyle Cooper scored yet another try but Saints nicked one back through Mikey Haywood to give the visitors a slim chance at a comeback.
But Mark Wilson scored the last try of the match, and man of the match Takulua converted to seal an impressive 44-31 win for Newcastle.
The scorers:
For Newcastle:
Tries: Takulua 3, Robinson, Vickers, Cooper, Wilson
Cons: Takulua 3, Hodgson
Pen: Takulua
For Northampton:
Tries: K Pisi, Gibson, Mallinder, Haywood
Cons: Myler 4
Pen: Myler
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Rob Vickers
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Opeti Fonua, 20 Evan Olmstead, 21 Sam Egerton, 22 Mike Delany, 23 Chris Harris
Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 Ben Foden (c), 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Juan Pablo Estelles
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Wayne Falla
TMO: Stuart Terheege
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