Newcastle Falcons showed character in abundance but had to make to do with bonus-point consolation in Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership trip to Bristol Bears.

The home side led 21-14 at half-time, and were ahead as early as the fourth minute when they kicked a penalty to the right corner for Gabriel Oghre to score from the driving maul.

Harry Byrne added the conversion, and did so again just two minutes later when Noah Heward pounced on a loose ball to dot down in the same corner.

Newcastle had a claim for a try chalked off by the TMO when Max Pepper dived in down the short-side, only for the video official to claim his toe had brushed the right touchline.

Bristol rubbed salt in the wound by counter-attacking 80 metres to score their third try through Fiji wing Kalaveti Ravouvou, but the Falcons finally hit back on the half-hour.

Captain Callum Chick was the man to inflict the damage with a pick-and-go try in the left corner, Newcastle rewarded for their patience following a sustained period of close-range pressure.

Brett Connon added the touchline conversion, and he repeated the trick three minutes before the interval when a rejuvenated Falcons side kicked a penalty to the right corner and drove Jamie Blamire over the line.

That cut Bristol’s half-time lead to 21-14, albeit after a heroic jackal penalty from Connon had dug the visitors out of trouble when Bristol attacked with the very last play of the opening 40.

The Falcons had to be at their defensive best during the early exchanges of the second half when they survived a scrum and a line-out to Bristol near their own try-line, and Pepper showed the required pace to sprint back 40 metres for a heroic try-saver when Rich Lane broke free.

There was no stopping Ravouvou on 51 minutes, however, when the Fijian raced into the left corner from a pass which was ruled legal by the officials despite claims from the visitors it had drifted forward.

Newcastle responded positively with their third try when centre Max Clark marked his Premiership debut for the club with a well-taken try, charging down a clearance kick and athletically diving on the loose ball just before it rolled dead.

Connon’s conversion cut the Bears’ lead back to seven, only for Byrne to slot a penalty from in front on the hour mark, but the men from the Toon were in no mood to lie down.

Ben Stevenson sped in for their bonus-point try on 63 minutes, with a sublime first-phase move seeing a no-look pass from Clark putting centre partner Alex Hearle through a hole, feeding Stevenson down the right for a run-in.

Connon’s conversion cut the deficit to just three, but his side were down to 14 when Hearle was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle inside his own 22.

Bristol were ruthless in exposing the extra space, Viliame and Mata, Kieran Marmion, Deago Bailey all scoring down the left to remove all doubt about the result.

Newcastle at least had the four-try bonus point to take back to the North East, building again as they move back into the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo (Oli Spencer, 53), 14 Max Pepper, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Max Clark, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon (Kieran Wilkinson, 74), 9 Sam Stuart (Joe Davis, 73); 1 Adam Brocklebank (Micky Rewcastle, 73), 2 Jamie Blamire (Ollie Fletcher,74), 3 Murray McCallum (Luan de Bruin, 53), 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 5 Kiran McDonald, 6 Philip van der Walt, 7 Freddie Lockwood, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Scorers – Tries: Callum Chick, Jamie Blamire, Max Clark, Ben Stevenson 2. Conversions: Brett Connon 5.

Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Harry Byrne (Benjamin Elizalde, 71), 9 Kieran Marmion (Sam Wolstenholme, 73); 1 Yann Thomas (Jake Woolmore, 51), 2 Gabriel Oghre, 3 Max Lahiff (George Kloska, 45), 4 James Dun (Steven Luatua, 31), 5 Joe Owen, 6 Santiago Grondona (Jake Heenan, 71), 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 8 Viliame Mata.

Scorers – Tries: Gabriel Oghre, Noah Heward 2, Kalaveti Ravouvou 2, Viliame Mata, Kieran Marmion, Deago Bailey. Conversions: Harry Byrne 4, Benhard Janse van Rensburg. Penalties: Harry Byrne.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys.