Newcastle furthered their chances of Heineken Cup qualification with a convincing 47-18 victory over Saracens on Sunday.

The Falcons overcame a poor start to enhance their claim for a place in next season's Heineken Cup by clinching a maximum five-point haul at the expense of relegation-threatened Saracens.

Saracens raced out of the blocks to rack up a 13-point lead but the Falcons hit back with a mixture of forward determination and explosive three-quarter play.

The visitors' fragile confidence - they have not won on their travels since December 2 - was visibly shattered by Hall Charlton's 39th-minute try and from there on it was all Newcastle.

Marius Hurter, Mike Stephenson (2), Hugh Vyvyan and Charlton all crossed after the break as Saracens battled in vain to keep the score respectable.

Even the 48th-minute arrival of French star Thomas Castaignede - making his second appearance of the season after a lengthy spell on the sidelines - failed to spark the London club, who are still battling to avoid the drop from the Zurich Premiership.

Fly-half Luke Smith, who booted eight points until he made way for Castaignede, helped keep Newcastle pegged back for the large part of the first half but he became a shadow as Falcons hit top gear.

It was Smith who notched the first point for the afternoon with a sweet second-minute penalty and shortly after Saracens found themselves 10-0 up.

Centre Kevin Sorrell broke through some feeble tackling on the 10-metre line and ran across field before floating over a fine pass to winger Ben Johnstone who bundled over in the right corner.

Smith slotted the extras and Saracens continued to dominate with their pack - shorn of several internationals - giving the Falcons' eight a torrid time.

Scrum-half Kyran Bracken was mixing up play nicely, showing some neat touches which kept Newcastle guessing - one chip from the England number nine that instigated a Saracens attack was rounded off with another Smith penalty.

The Falcons made several attempts to break Saracens grip on the game with Jonny Wilkinson and Jamie Noon making valuable yards but the strong wind was making life difficult as Smith's boot kept the home side pinned back.

Wilkinson had the opportunity for his first kick at goal in the 31st minute but, given the conditions, he spurned the opportunity and found touch instead.

And it proved a sound decision when number eight Jon Dunbar steamrollered over after several phases of Falcons play arising from the ensuing line-out.

Amazingly, Wilkinson added the touchline conversion before he was called into action again a minute short of the interval - this time to improve a try by Charlton after the scrum-half took a quick tap penalty.

Saracens were reeling from the Falcons assault and Rob Andrew's men were now firmly in the driving seat, the situation emphasised by prop Hurters' try three minutes after half-time.

Wilkinson converted before Saracens added to their problems with a 53rd minute sin-binning of Chris Chesney and Newcastle took full advantage of their numerical superiority to cross through man of the match Stephenson.

The floodgates were now well and truly open as Vyvyan, Stephenson and Charlton all ran in tries with Chesney managing a late consolation score for Saracens, who must now secure a preferable result at home to Bristol next Sunday in their last game of the season if they are to help themselves avoid the drop.