Wilkinson leads Newcastle's recovery

Newcastle 27 Leeds

Having spent most of the early part of last week recovering in the intensive care ward after being mugged by Leicester – where their director of rugby, Rob Andrew, said: "We didn't turn up" as part of his damning assessment – Newcastle went some way towards rehabilitation by inflicting a first defeat of the season on Leeds. But it was a close-run thing, and had the Tykes been a little steadier at crucial moments, Leeds would have come away from Kingston Park with more than a bonus point.

Newcastle, despite their desperate away form, are still not an easy side to beat on their own turf. Yet if Leeds had made more of their obvious forward superiority and not been so wayward at the line-out, where Stuart Grimes had a blindingly profitable afternoon, Newcastle would not now have risen up the table to eighth.

It was that sort of match. Packed with incident, it started slowly, gathered momentum and, well before the end, had become a tolerably enjoyable piece of entertainment. With dramatic finishes all the vogue, it had one of those, too. For good measure, four of the five tries were right out of the top drawer.

If the second was a bit scratchy, Leeds will not complain about that. For it hauled the visitors to within three points after the Falcons had enjoyed the better of a first half in which both sides were guilty of lacking ambition. Not that this charge could be levelled at the Falcons scrum-half, Hall Charlton, who picked up at a ruck 30 metres from the posts and ran unopposed for a lightning touchdown. With Jonny Wilkinson converting to add to an early penalty, Newcastle were beginning to look the part.

Having started the game with a couple of long-range misses, Braam van Straaten squared matters with a penalty five minutes into the second period, just as Gordon Ross's line-kicking was about to desert him. Twice Ross kicked for position, only for Liam Botham to run the ball out of the danger zone. Once Jonny Wilkinson got the Falcons into the Leeds red-light area, it was go for Grimes who displayed impressive athleticism to run in a try from 25 metres.

Back came Leeds. Diego Albanese left Phil Godman for dead with a lovely latin shuffle to supply Dan Scarbrough. Van Straaten's conversion made it 17-17 with the final quarter to play.

Another Wilkinson penalty and a sumptuous try, initiated by Wilkinson and finished by Jamie Noon set the seal on Newcastle's day. There was just time for Van Straaten to earn Leeds their bonus point with a penalty from wide on the left. They deserved no less.

Newcastle: Tries Charlton, Grimes, Noon; Conversions J Wilkinson 3; Penalties J Wilkinson 2. Leeds: Tries Harder, Scarbrough; Conversions Van Straaten; Penalties Van Straaten 2.

Newcastle: M Wilkinson; L Botham, J Noon, J Wilkinson (capt), J Shaw (P Godman, 30); T May, H Charlton; I Peel (M Ward, 66), S Brotherstone (M Thompson, 58), M Ward (M Hurter, h-t), C Hamilton, S Grimes, J Dunbar, R Devonshire (S Otuvaka, 82), R Arnold (P Dowson, 73).

Leeds: D Scarbrough; G Harder, T Davies, B van Straaten, D Albanese; G Ross, D Hegarty; M Shelley (capt), M Regan, G Kerr, C Murphy, T Palmer, C Mather, D Hyde, I Fea'unati.

Referee: D Pearson (Ashington, Northumberland)