Falcons 25 Dragons 17

Newport Gwent Dragons crashed out of the Heineken Cup when they conceded the double against Newcastle at Kingston Park yesterday.

The result put Newcastle through to the last eight of Europe's premier competition, but the Dragons made them fight every inch of the way and matched the Falcons in tries at three apiece, even if they never looked like achieving the bonus point win they needed.

They didn't recover from the loss of skipper Jason Forster after little more than 20 minutes, when he took a heavy knock and was so groggy after his recent appendix operation he couldn't continue.

The Dragons had the satisfaction of scoring the best try of the match when Kevin Morgan raced across near the corner and Ian Gough was just about the best player there, imperious in the line out and all over the pitch.