Newcastle maintained their 100% record in Europe this season with a 34-24 victory over Pool Five whipping boys Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup.

Having already registered wins over Perpignan and the Dragons earlier in the campaign, the Falcons went back to the top of the table with a deserved victory over the Scots, whose European adventure looks dead and buried after just three games.

The tormentor-in-chief was Australian veteran Matt Burke, who scored one try and slotted five kicks, while backs Jamie Noon, Tom May and Michael Stephenson also got their names on the scoresheet.

The Tyneside outfit did not have the game all their own way, but three tries in the space of six second-half minutes killed off any hopes Edinburgh might have had of snatching anything from the encounter.

Gunners winger Chris Paterson notched the first points of the game with a relatively simple penalty and fly-half Brendan Laney doubled their advantage with a scruffy drop goal, as the Falcons were made to pay for giving away a raft of penalties.

The home side struggled to cope with Edinburgh's forward pressure and after a Falcons error at the breakdown, Paterson knocked over another penalty to make it 9-0.

Newcastle finally got their running game going, and after a buccaneering break by Mark Mayerhofler, returning from an 11-week absence, Dave Walder dropped a goal of his own to reduce the arrears.

Burke then kicked a penalty to close the gap even further, but Newcastle were failing to stamp their authority on an encounter being dominated by the boot.

Centre Noon changed that on the half-hour, however.

After a series of half-breaks by the home pack, the ubiquitous Burke side-stepped his marker and laid on a try for the 25-year-old England hopeful, who dived over in the corner.

Burke added the extras to give Newcastle the edge for the first time.

But Edinburgh hit back in first-half injury time when, following a catch-and-drive, captain Todd Blackadder spun off the back of a maul and plundered over the line for the score, which was converted by Paterson.

Burke hit the upright with a penalty early in the second half, while Falcons winger Tom May almost went over for a try, but his swashbuckling run ended just short of the visitors' line.

Both sides were reduced to 14 men for a spell following a melee which resulted in Edinburgh prop Allan Jacobsen and Falcons hooker Andy Long sent to the sin-bin.

And from the subsequent penalty, Paterson continued his flawless kicking performance by grabbing another three-pointer to extend the Scots' lead.

The ebb-and-flow encounter took another twist when Walder sent the pacy May over for a try after Edinburgh lost possession from their own scrum. Burke converted to make the score 20-19 to the home side with 15 minutes left.

Minutes later, Newcastle wrapped up the game when opposite wing Stephenson flew into the corner after receiving a simple Noon pass with the Edinburgh defence in disarray.

The ebullient Burke then popped up to score under the posts to seal the bonus point for the Falcons.

Edinburgh scrum-half Mike Blair nipped in for a late unconverted try but it was too late to impact on the outcome.

The result means Edinburgh will have to win the reverse fixture at Murrayfield next Saturday if their European adventure is to continue into 2005.