'Far from ideal performance' but Saints show fight to see off Newcastle

But the black, green and gold boss praised his players for how hard they fought as they eventually got over the line for a crucial bonus-point Gallagher PREM victory.

The success sent Saints back to the top of the table after they had been knocked off the summit by Bath's big win against Saracens on Friday night.

But Newcastle pushed Dowson's men all the way, producing a hugely impressive away display at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

The Red Bulls kept battling right to the end, scoring a try with seconds left on the clock to ensure Saints had little breathing space.

But the home side held their nerve with the clock in the red to ensure they would pick up five valuable points in their first PREM game since January 24.

"It was a far from ideal performance and it probably shows a little bit where we are with regards to cohesion and getting the group back together," Saints boss Dowson said.

"I don't think we can fault the effort and the intensity and how hard the players battled, but there were obviously loads of areas in there that we need to look at.

"We've tried to create that (cohesion) in training and that's obviously difficult to do so there's loads in there for us to go after.

"There were loads of really positive stories in there as well, with Aiden Ainsworth-Cave making his PREM debut and being outstanding at it.

"We want exciting opportunities like that and we find out about ourselves.

"It was heart-in-the-mouth stuff.

"Callum Chick and George Furbank were driving that lesser experienced group from the start of the week and there were valuable lessons in there."