Northampton ended their Zurich Premiership season on a winning note with a tense 24-19 win over Newcastle, but their efforts were not enough to secure themselves an automatic place in next season's Heineken Cup.

The Saints needed a win and a bonus point and also required Leicester to deny London Irish of any points at Welford Road.

Their midlands rivals did just that with a 34-16 win over the Exiles - but Northampton could only manage to score two tries.

The result does, however, lift the Saints up to fifth in the League table but their European dreams now hinge on the Zurich Championship play-offs.

They must first overcome London Irish at the Madejski Stadium in two weeks' time.

The Saints had the upper hand from the start. They went into the lead with an early penalty from the boot of Paul Grayson before the fly-half touched down for the first try of the afternoon.

Grayson was the man outside after a series of rolling mauls. Scrum-half Matt Dawson finally picked the ball up from the ruck to send Grayson over the try line. The England international converted to give the Saints an important 8-0 lead.

But in typical Newcastle fashion they battled back with fly-half Jonny Wilkinson in the thick of the action.

The England star added a penalty after 32 minutes before sending a long looping pass to Jamie Noon on the right wing. Noon passed to ex-Saint Pat Lam, who cut inside to send forward Hugh Vyvyan through to score.

Wilkinson added the conversion to give Newcastle a morale boosting 10-8 lead at the break.

The advantage did not last long though, as Grayson put the Saints back in charge with two penalties minutes after the second half kick-off.

Matters became worse for the visitors after Vyvyan was sin-binned for pulling down a driving maul at a critical point.

The Saints were on the brink of scoring as they were camped in Newcastle's 22 and with the Falcons losing a man they capitalised on their advantage.

Forward Mark Soden was the man to score but that was after Dawson, who broke free from the ruck offloaded when he was unable to get through. Grayson converted to put Northampton 21-10 ahead with 56 minutes played.

But by no means was it all over for Newcastle. Wilkinson once again reduced the deficit to just two points with three penalties to set up a nail-biting finish. But with Grayson adding a last gasp penalty Northampton were in the clear.

Teams

Northampton: Shaw, Brooks, Jorgensen, Leslie, Cohen, Grayson, Dawson, Smith, Thompson, Stewart, Phillips, Brouzet, Blowers, Pountney, Soden.

Replacements: Tucker for Jorgensen (12), Beal for Cohen (40), Richmond for Thompson (40), Morris for Stewart (40), Seely for Pountney (30).

Not Used: Hunter, Malone.

Tries: Grayson, Soden.

Cons: Grayson.

Pens: Grayson 4.

Newcastle: Walder, Stephenson, Noon, May, Botham, Wilkinson, Charlton, Graham, Thompson, Hurter, Vyvyan, Grimes, Dunbar, Mower, Arnold.

Replacements: Tuigamala for May (69), Makin for Thompson (66), Lam for Dunbar (38), Devonshire for Mower (40).

Not Used: Armstrong, Boyd, Weir.

Sin Bin: Vyvyan (57).

Tries: Vyvyan.

Cons: Wilkinson.

Pens: Wilkinson 4.

Att: 7,500

Ref: Tony Spreadbury (RFU).