NEWCASTLE Falcons face a crunch showdown with Leeds at Kingston Park on Saturday after the bottom club cut the gap between the sides to two points by beating Exeter 27-22 yesterday.

The Falcons were again crushed by their LV Cup final conquerors, Gloucester, on Saturday.

Head coach Neil Back believes Leeds must win at least two of their remaining four matches and is confident his men can replicate last season’s successful fight against the drop.

Back said: ‘‘We’ll do what we need to do or we will die trying. Nobody can question the mentality or desire of this squad. In the last four games we’ve won twice and scored eight tries and conceded very few.”

Falcons’ head coach Alan Tait felt his team were firmly in contention at the interval at Gloucester, but offered no excuses for a second half when the hosts scored 24 unanswered points.

“We just weren’t at the races in the second-half,” he said.

“We had been so upbeat at half-time, but we didn’t finish off the chances and breaks we made.

“At half-time, we said Gloucester seemed to be toiling a little bit, but we made a couple of mistakes, including a crazy error in defence.

“We’ve got four home games to come, and the boys are going to have to pull together.”

Three converted tries during 12 minutes – the last two after Newcastle No 8 Ally Hogg was sin-binned – underpinned Gloucester’s win.

Newcastle, 29 points and eight places below Gloucester before kick-off, made life awkward, trailing just 13-9 until the 64th minute.

Gloucester coach Bryan Redpath said: “There was frustration in the first 60 minutes, but credit to Newcastle, they were very dogged.”

The Falcons last won on Gloucester soil during their Premiership title-winning campaign 13 years ago, yet three Jimmy Gopperth penalties kept them in contention for much of a low-quality contest.

Full-back Freddie Burns, wing Jonny May, scrum-half Rory Lawson and substitute Henry Trinder scored tries for Gloucester, while Burns slotted two conversions and two penalties for a 15-point haul before Tim Taylor added the final two conversions.

The victory followed their 34-7 cup final win against Newcastle two weeks ago.