Best stems Falcons comeback

Lee Best's late try boosted Bath's survival hopes, earning a 20-18 victory over Newcastle.

Bath boosted their survival hopes as Lee Best's late converted try earned the West Country outfit a 20-18 victory and fought off a spirited Newcastle comeback at the Rec.

Brian Ashton's side jumped two places into ninth after a win that look assured when they led 13-3 early in the second-half.

The hosts shrugged off the absence of England stars Danny Grewcock, Steve Borthwick, Lee Mears and Matt Stevens as winger Salesi Finau scored a fourth minute try under the posts converted by Chris Malone.

The fly-half then added two penalties, sandwiched by a Matt Burke reply, as Bath looked well on course to bounce back from their Powergen Cup defeat by Llanelli.

But the Irish full-back booted another three-pointer after home scrum-half Nick Walshe was sin-binned for slapping the ball out of James Grindal's grasp.

And then Ollie Phillips marked his second start of the season with a try in the left corner which was converted by Burke to level the scores entering the final quarter.

It looked as if Bath were going to suffer their fifth home Premiership defeat of the season when Anthony Elliot touched down in the corner from a chip ahead.

But Burke missed the extras and that proved costly as the replacement delighted the sell-out crowd by scoring in the corner three minutes from time with Malone keeping his nerve to boot the winning conversion from a tricky angle.