Wasps fought back from 12-0 down to beat Newcastle 34-30
Last Updated: 30/12/16 11:03pm
Wasps ended 2016 at the top of the Premiership table after they recovered from a poor start to beat Newcastle 34-30 at Kingston Park on Friday night.
Dai Young's team trailed 12-0 inside four minutes but rallied strongly to record a bonus-point success on Tyneside.
Danny Cipriani, Christian Wade, Thomas Young and Jimmy Gopperth - against his former team - scored the visitors' tries.
Wasps are now five points ahead of Saracens in the Premiership table with 47, however Saracens will be looking for maximum points when they take on Leicester Tigers on Sunday.
Newcastle hit the ground running and had scored twice in the opening five minutes as Sonatane Takulua and Marcus Watson went over.
Wasps finally got onto the scoreboard on the 20-minute mark when Cipriani gathered his own chip and went in under the posts.
Minutes later they took the lead when Wade showed his pace by chasing down a Dan Robson kick and dotting down.
However, Newcastle hit back when Rob Vickers powered over from short range and Joel Hodgson then extended their lead with a penalty.
The Falcons should have gone into the break with a 22-14 lead but Thomas Young went over in the last play of the half and Cipriani's conversion made it a one-point game.
Wasps scored their bonus-point try when Gopperth, who had replaced Cipriani at the break, stormed over.
Hodgson and Gopperth exchanged penalties before Wasps went down to 14 men when Josh Bassett was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on. However, it was Wasps who extended their lead when Elliot Daly nailed a long-range effort.
Newcastle secured their fourth try and two losing bonus points after Mark Wilson went over to set-up a tense last two minutes but Wasps held on for the win.
