Premiership: Newcastle 25-30 Bath - Joe Cokanasiga stars on return to clinch Bath win

Bath and England wing Joe Cokanasiga came off the bench to score two tries in the final 14 minutes

Joe Cokanasiga scored twice on his return to action to lead Bath to a bonus-point victory and extend Newcastle's winless run to eight games.

The winger came off the bench in the second half to secure the points in his first appearance of the season.

Newcastle led at the break thanks to George McGuigan and Connor Collett, with Ewan Richards replying for Bath.

Lewis Boyce's try levelled matters but Greg Peterson looked to have won it for the Falcons before Cokanisiga struck.

The win was only Bath's third of the campaign and they remain bottom of the Premiership, while out-of-form Newcastle are still looking for a first victory since November.

• Premiership table

The game got under way after a minute's silence for former Falcons winger Va'aiga Tuigamala, who passed away at the age of 52, with McGuigan grabbing the opener after five minutes through a driving maul.

Danny Cipriani and Will Haydon-Wood exchanged penalties before Bath drew level after 22 minutes when Richards collected a looping pass to crash over for his first try for the club.

The Falcons moved ahead again when Collett went over from close range after half-an-hour and a Haydon-Wood penalty stretched the lead to 10 points before Cipriani replied with the boot to make it 18-11 at the break.

Bath were back on level terms after 51 minutes when a kick to the corner set up a catch-and-drive lineout, ending in substitute Boyce crashing over and Cipriani converting.

Bath survived Nathan Hughes' yellow card to claim their third league win of the season

It looked like they had blown their chances when Nathan Hughes was yellow-carded for a high tackle just short of the hour mark and Falcons immediately took advantage, building the pressure near the line before Peterson burst over.

But the 64th-minute introduction of Cokanasiga turned the game, with the England wing returning from a long injury layoff to sprint into the corner.

Cipriani's conversion went astray to leave Bath two points down heading into the closing stages, but Cokanasiga crossed again to finish off a sweeping move with four minutes left to seal the win for Stuart Hooper's men.

Falcons head coach Dave Walder told BBC Newcastle:

"It's a big disappointment. I think the game was there for us to win. Our exit strategy in the second half, we didn't quite nail a couple of exits, we were pretty ill-disciplined and you give a team like that enough possession in your half and they will eventually hurt you.

"We were quite happy in the first half in the terms of where and how we were playing the game and we talked about discipline being key but I think we shot ourselves in the foot at times and gave them a foothold in the game.

"We've got to dust ourselves down as it's a short turnaround again going into next week, so we haven't got time to lick our wounds."

Bath head coach Neal Hatley:

"I'm delighted for the boys, especially to see Joe getting himself back on the pitch and the scoresheet. Being able to bring him on has made a huge difference and he's turned the game for us.

"It's also great to see Miles Reid on the pitch as well and to captain the side for the first time as well as making a winning start. It's a great feeling to get a win today.

"We've fought hard for that and put in a committed performance and showed our resilience when we went down to 14 men in the second half for a spell as well. It's always a tough place to come up here so to be heading home with a win and a bonus point is fantastic."

Newcastle: Brown; Penny (co-capt), Wacokecoke, Orlando, Radwan; Haydon-Wood, Nordli-Kelemeti; Davison, McGuigan, Tampin, Peterson, Robinson, Basham, Collett (co-capt), Graham.

Replacements: Blamire, Brocklebank, Palframan, Farrar, Montgomery, Schreuder, Connon, Lucock.

Bath: De Glanville; Butt, Clark, Ojomoh, Muir; Cipriani, B Spencer; Morozov, Du Toit, Rae, Williams, Richards, Bayliss, Reid (capt), Hughes.

Replacements: Doughty, Boyce, Fia, W Spencer, Underhill, Simpson, Joseph, Cokanasiga.

Yellow card: Hughes (Bath)

Referee: Adam Leal.

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