Newcastle won a high-scoring Anglo-Welsh Cup tie against Wasps, edging a 14-try thriller 53-41. After an early Falcons penalty from Craig Willis, two tries within two minutes gave the hosts the advantage in a frantic opening period.
First Jack Willis went under the posts, with Rob Miller adding the conversion, before two minutes later the home side's attack saw the Falcons caught cold with debutant Aaron O'Sullivan the spare man to go over in the corner.
In the 19th minute the home side added a third try when a break from Brendan Macken saw him offload to Owain James, whose pace saw him sneak over to stretch the lead to 19-3.
The Falcons hit back quickly as a solo try from winger Adam Radwan saw him outpace the Wasps defence to go under the posts, with Craig Willis' conversion blocked.
A catch and drive saw hooker Santiago Socino peel off and force himself over the line to make it 19-15, before Newcastle regained the lead as replacement Simon Uzokwe's quick side-step saw him create the space for the try -- with Craig Willis converting.
A late penalty from Wasps' Miller saw the teams go into the break level at 22-22 but an try early in the second half from Guy Armitage saw the home side back in front.
The Falcons hit back as Gary Graham went through unchallenged from a line-out to level the scores, before Wasps quickly got themselves back in front as James added his second try with Miller converting.
Radwan's pace then saw him again break the Wasps defensive line to go under the posts, with Craig Willis converting to level the match again.
It was the turn of Newcastle to edge back in front as a tired looking defence allowed replacement Joel Hodgson through to score, with the conversion added for 41-34.
Newcastle took control of the game as more missed tackles deep in Wasps territory saw Andrew Davidson add a seventh try, with Hodgson again successful with his kick.
The home side gave themselves a lifeline at 48-41 as Armitage claimed his second try when the ball was offloaded to him from a Miller break.
However, an eighth try of the game for the Falcons sealed them the win when Uzokwe claimed his second try after the visitors stole the ball on the Wasps line.