Saints survive a scare as they secure bonus-point win at Newcastle Red Bulls

The black, green and gold had to play half an hour of the match with 14 men as JJ van der Mescht was sin-binned during the first half and then given a second yellow card after the break, meaning he was given a 20-minute red card.

Newcastle thought they had levelled things up at 26-26 late in the game, but they saw a try rightly ruled out for a George McGuigan tip tackle on Ed Prowse.

And Saints used that reprieve to kick on in the closing stages, with Fin Smith's penalty putting them 10 points up before Smith sent player of the match Alex Coles clear for a try that put some gloss on the scoreline.

It meant Saints retained their unbeaten record at the start of the new Gallagher PREM season, taking 18 points from a possible 20 so far ahead of next Friday's home game against Saracens.

And Saints will have breathed a sigh of relief after being pushed all the way by a fired-up Red Bulls side in front of a full house at Kingston Park.

Dowson's men always knew they would face a real fight in the north-east so a fast start felt crucial.

And Saints got just that as they kicked a penalty to the corner and Alex Mitchell applied some pressure before van der Mescht picked up to power over from close range for his first PREM try.

Smith added the extras, and he was soon doing so again after a try manufactured by two of his British & Irish Lions team-mates.

Tommy Freeman started it all off with a superb run down the right and Mitchell was the man to finish it all off with a lovely step and stretch after Coles had powered towards the line.

A series of penalties against soon gave Newcastle field position, but the away side defended stoically to force a knock-on after a long period of pressure.

Saints won a penalty at the resulting scrum to further enhance their standing in the territory battle.

Callum Chick came close to scoring against his former club as he forced his way over the home line, but he was held up and Newcastle eventually survived, with cries of 'Red Bulls' growing louder.

Saints conceded a penalty at a Newcastle scrum and then another just inside their own half as the Red Bulls found themselves at the black, green and gold door again.

This time Newcastle made the pressure pay as Brett Connon sent a crossfield kick wide to the right, and after Tom Litchfield failed to gather, Oli Spencer picked up the pieces to score.

Connon missed the conversion but Saints soon gave away another penalty close to halfway to invite yet more danger.

And after van der Mescht was sin-binned, paying the price for his side's persistent offending, Newcastle put together a huge lineout drive to push Amanaki Mafi over the line.

Connon converted to cut the gap to two points and the home fans were now well and truly in the game, firing their team up with Saints under siege.

However, Saints managed to turn the tables on their hosts to take some of the air out of the Kingston Park balloon just before the break. Smith fired a lovely pass to Freeman and he did the rest, with the successful conversion taking Saints nine points up at the break.

However, the second half continued with Saints making errors that gave Newcastle a foothold in the game, meaning unnecessary pressure kept coming the way of the away team.

And it was to get worse on 52 minutes as van der Mescht was shown a second yellow card, resulting in a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Boeta Chamberlain.

Newcastle used a scrum in the Saints half to real effect soon after as the menacing Mafi peeled away and set up Stefan Coetzee, who had just come on, for a try on his debut.

Connon landed the conversion in impressive fashion from the touchline, and the Red Bulls had again pulled back to just two points behind.

Saints desperately needed some kind of spark and they manufactured it with a magical effort that saw Edoardo Todaro dive over for a fine finish on the left.

Smith sent the conversion just wide, and Newcastle thought they had levelled things up soon after as they produced a special score of their own, with Chamberlain finishing off a flowing move and Connon adding the extras.

However, the TMO intervened, spotting the tip tackle from McGuigan on Prowse at the breakdown, and the score was rightly ruled out.

Saints looked to give themselves breathing space by going for goal with a penalty from long range, but Smith couldn't make it.

However, he made up for it soon after as Saints won a penalty much closer to the home posts, allowing their fly-half to put them 10 points up with five minutes to play.

Saints now had some comfort and they added to it after Manny Iyogun came up with a big strip inside the Falcons half, allowing Smith to produce a lovely pass for the onrushing Coles to race home for a huge score.

Smith added the extras, and Saints had got the job done.

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Boeta Chamberlain; 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Max Clark (Rhys Beckmans 75), 11 Liam Williams (Stefan Coetzee 53); 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz; 1 Adam Brocklebank (Murray McCallum 57), 2 George McGuigan (c) (Ollie Fletcher 66), 3 Richard Palframan (Luan de Bruin 66); 4 Jamie Hodgson (Freddie Lockwood 69), 5 Freddie Clarke (Oscar Usher 57); 6 Fergus Lee-Warner, 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Amanaki Mafi.

Saints: 15 Tommy Freeman; 14 Edoardo Todaro, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Tom Litchfield (Ed Prowse 59); 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Danilo Fischetti (Manny Iyogun 59), 2 Robbie Smith (Craig Wright 62), 3 Trevor Davison (Luke Green 62) ; 4 Alex Coles, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht (Anthony Belleau 72); 6 Josh Kemeny (Tom Lockett 44), 7 Sam Graham (Henry Pollock 62), 8 Callum Chick (c).

Referee: Ian Tempest