Premiership: Bath 24-16 Newcastle Falcons - Bath fight back for victory

Bath's victory over Newcastle ends a five-match losing run in all competitions

Bath moved off the bottom of the Premiership as Ollie Lawrence, Ted Hill and Ben Spencer tries saw them beat Newcastle at a wet Recreation Ground.

They trailed 10-7 at half-time after Jamie Blamire's try for the Falcons but Bath controlled the second half for a fourth Premiership win this season.

Lawrence chased Spencer's kick to score the game's first try but Blamire was driven over to reply for Newcastle.

Hill and captain Spencer scored from close range to give Bath the victory.

The win broke a five-match losing run for Bath in all competitions to move up to eighth in the Premiership, and above Newcastle, but they were forced to come from behind.

Lawrence collected Spencer's chip over the defence to score the opening try but, with Bath hooker Niall Annett in the sin-bin, his opposite number Blamire scored in the right corner.

Fly-half Brett Connon superbly converted from the touchline and a penalty then gave Newcastle the lead.

Gary Graham was close to extending the advantage after a wonderful step and surge to the line but the TMO ruled he was held up.

After half-time, Falcons' Elliott Obatoyinbo was sin-binned for illegally preventing a try for full-back Matt Gallagher but from the subsequent phases back row Hill burrowed over.

Scrum-half Spencer scored Bath's third, also from close range, after a penalty was kicked to the left corner.

A third Connon penalty kept Newcastle within a score but fly-half Orlando Bailey kicked another three for Bath to give them breathing space in the final minutes.

Connon had a chance to rescue a losing bonus point for Newcastle with the last kick of the game but his fourth attempt of the day was wide.

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan:

"It was always going to be a game of inches. The weather was a real leveller.

"For the second half the message was discipline, field position and use our opportunities, and I thought we did that. It was a real team effort. Even with the last play of the game, we were looking for the bonus point.

"It's small margins and that phrase I've used before - tough to beat."

Newcastle head coach Dave Walder:

"Ultimately Bath managed the conditions better in the second half and got their rewards.

"We could easily have come away with more points. If we had done so at half-time it could have been slightly different, but we didn't.

"Fair play to Bath, they did what they needed to do to stay in the game and ultimately came back, managed the game well and got the victory."

Bath: Gallagher; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Ojomoh, McConnochie; Bailey, B Spencer; Boyce, Annett, Rae, Attwood, Lee-Warner, Hill, Underhill, Bayliss

Replacements: Stewart, Morozov, Jonker, W Spencer, Reid, Schreuder, Joseph, Cloete

Sin-bin: Annett

Newcastle: Obatoyinbo; Stevenson, Orlando, Penny, Carreras; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, Davison, Peterson, De Chaves, Graham, Chick, Fearns

Replacements: Fletcher, Mulipola, Palframan, Dalton, Marshall, Young, Moroni, Radwan

Sin-bin: Obatoyinbo

Referee: Jack Makepeace.