ZACH Kibirige snatched a late 16-15 victory for Newcastle in their Anglo-Welsh Cup clash with Bath at Kingston Park.

The West Country side seemed to have the match won after second-half tries from Jack Wilson and Will Homer edged them 15-9 ahead with seven minutes remaining against the 14-man Falcons.

But then Newcastle winger Kibirige wriggled free on the touchline just inside halfway and raced away to score under the posts - and Craig Willis' conversion made it 16-15.

Neither side was able to progress any further in the competition - but they provided a pacy contest which was riddled with errors.

The first clear chance fell to Falcons lock Glen Young, who collected a long cut-out pass from Willis and looked like he was going to make it over in the corner before he was hauled down - and Newcastle were penalised for going in at the side.

Bath spurned a kick at goal to go to the corner and the follow up play promised much but fizzled out when Adam Hastings' grubber kick was snapped up by Willis, who was then tackled high - and the penalty allowed Newcastle to clear.

Opeti Fonua and Sinoti Sinoti roused the crowd with successive powerful runs but both times the loss of ball in contact cost the home side.

A penalty in the 30th minute frustrated the home players and enabled Hastings to put Bath in front but the home side responded when a Willis half-break and offload to flanker Harrison Orr took play right up to the Bath line. The hosts ended the half driving close to the line, forcing a penalty which Willis kicked to level the scores.

Willis then edged Newcastle 6-3 ahead five minutes into the second period after another good run by Fonua was followed by the tackler failing to release.

Almost immediately Hastings was wide from halfway with a penalty, taking the shot from 10 metres closer after some backchat from the Falcons.

However, Bath regained the lead when Wilson broke clear and outpaced the Falcons defence for a try in the corner in the 50th minute. Hastings missing the conversion from wide out.

The introduction of Nili Latu had an immediate effect with a penalty awarded after he smashed through the Bath line - and Willis edged Newcastle 9-8 ahead in the 61st minute.

The lead did not last long with Bath finding their way up the line through Paul Grant and working an opening for stand-in scrum-half Homer to score with a curving run in the 65th minute.

Hastings made it 15-9 with the conversion and an away win looked confirmed when the home side's Ben Sowrey was sin-binned - but then came Kibirige's 73rd-minute try which sealed a dramatic win for the Falcons.