Newcastle Falcons secured a home semi-final in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Friday, but they were made to work for it by an energetic Gloucester side under the Kingston Park lights.

Steered to the finish line by a Jamie Blamire hat-trick, the Falcons led 8-0 at the break and made their greater experience count virtually right from the off.

Dominating the early territory, they scored their first try nine minutes in when a scrum penalty was kicked to the right corner. A solid set-piece drill and some powerful mauling enabled Blamire to dot down at the back of the advancing mass of bodies, but a youthful Gloucester side battled with gusto throughout.

Forward dominance from the home side earned a penalty in front of the posts which Brett Connon duly chipped over, and a barnstorming Falcons scrum proved a ready source of penalties as visiting tight-head Alfie Petch was eventually sent to the sin bin.

Newcastle failed to make their barrage of close-range penalties count on the scoreboard, however, knocking on at a close-range line-out and being held up over the try-line in a frustrating end to the opening 40.

Leading by eight at the start of the second half, the gap was narrowed to a single point just eight minutes after the resumption when wing Louis Hillman-Cooper worked infield to support a line-break, collecting an offload ten metres out to score.

Charlie Atkinson converted from the left, but the Falcons responded positively by kicking a penalty to the left corner, from where Blamire rumbled over for his second try.

Connon added the conversion, but the visitors reduced the deficit to five when Atkinson fired over a well-struck penalty from 48 metres out in front of the posts.

Blamire completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes from another line-out in the left corner, but the sin-binning of Kieran Wilkinson for a deliberate knock-on handed Gloucester an advantage which they made count almost instantly, when former Falcons academy wing Matty Ward darted between the sticks for a try.

Atkinson’s conversion cut the home lead to just five, but they held on for the win and booked themselves a home semi-final.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Max Clark (Nathan Greenwood, 22), 11 Alex Hearle (Kieran Wilkinson, 61), 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Murray McCallum (Richard Palframan, 54), 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 5 Kiran McDonald (Cameron Neild, 54), 6 Philip van der Walt, 7 Freddie Lockwood, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Scorers – Tries: Jamie Blamire 3. Conversions: Brett Connon 2. Penalties: Brett Connon.

Gloucester Rugby: 15 Ioan Jones (Matty Ward, 40), 14 Louis Hillman-Cooper, 13 Will Butler (captain), 12 Morgan Adderly-Jones, 11 Jack Cotgreave, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Mike Austin (Charlie Chapman, 60); 1 Archie McArthur, 2 Morgan Nelson (George Knowles, 60), 3 Alfie Petch (Jono Benz-Salomon, 28), 4 Freddie Stevens, 5 Josh Gray, 6 Jacob Wells, 7 Caio James, 8 Olly Allport.

Scorers – Tries: Louis Hillman-Cooper, Matty Ward. Conversions: Charlie Atkinson 2. Penalties: Charlie Atkinson.

Referee: Luke Pearce. Attendance: 2,700.