BATH 36 NEWCASTLE 25. Neither Steve Meehan, of Bath, nor Newcastle's Steve Bates were particularly pleased with certain aspects of Saturday's clash at The Rec.

But at least Bath head coach Meehan had the satisfaction of a victory that ended Newcastle's recent run of six straight wins that has given them a chance of Heineken Cup qualification from the depths of relegation fears.

And there were worries among the sell-out crowd on a glorious day in the city that lightning would strike twice for Meehan's men after they threw away a 16-point lead to lose at Saracens six days earlier.

A 22-7 half-time lead, as South African star Butch James punished multiple opposition errors in kickable positions while wing Joe Maddock finished off a blistering dash down the right by hooker Rob Hawkins, was slashed to just a five-point advantage midway through the second half.

Fly-half Tom May, deputising for the nearly-returned Jonny Wilkinson – the World Cup winner could play against Leicester on Friday – converted tries from wing Tim Visser and flanker Brent Wilson as Bath lost their grip.

However, even though James found himself warming the bench for ten minutes after putting his arm a bit too high on the opposition, Bath managed to calm the bubbling waters with big back row Andy Beattie touching down at a ruck on the Newcastle line and Maddock intercepting for his second try.

It was hard luck on Newcastle, who managed a second penalty from May and a consolation try from left-wing Andrew Fenby.

Bates said later that Newcastle will take confidence from the match but admitted he was unhappy with people 'hanging around after the tackle'. The breakdown area also frustrated Meehan.

The Bath boss said: "We were both disappointed by that. We both had the same feeling that the defensive side was not rolling away from the tackle.

"We have seen, throughout the course of the season, that, when the referee goes through the proper steps there – with the first step being that the tackler moves away – you get rugby.

"When that does not happen, it becomes a bit of a slower match and a bit of an arm wrestle. I don't think we received a penalty at all for them not rolling away from a tackle and there were certainly plenty of opportunities to award one."

It is now a quick turnaround before Friday night's crunch clash with Sale Sharks at Edgley Park but Meehan will hope that Maddock can weave more magic in the North West, having clocked-up 11 tries in the Premiership.

Maddock said of his two on Saturday: "The first try was a great team effort and we showed good skills throughout. Then Hawko (Hawkins) dummied through the gap, fended off a player and gave that last pass. He should probably switch to centre the way he is playing at the moment.

"The second one was a lucky bounce and I was lucky it went my way otherwise it would have been down the other end."

That Sale match is followed by an April 1 visit of Wasps to The Rec then, three days later, Harlequins come to town. At least, Meehan will have England hooker Lee Mears back in the squad from Six Nations duty although the head coach will have a good kind of headache in picking his hooker, with Hawkins in great form.

Still, those three games in quick succession is a tall order and Maddock added: "We have three big games coming up and it will be important to see how Steve and the coaches manage the squad.

"Three games in eight days is not ideal but hopefully we will put in some good performances."

Bath: N Abendanon, J Maddock (M Stephenson. 74mins), A Crockett, S Berne (T Cheeseman. 73mins), M Banahan, B James, S Bemand (M Baxter. 76mins), D Flatman (A Jarvis. 73mins), R Hawkins (M Lilley. 79mins), D Bell, J Harrison (J Faamatuainu. 73mins), S Hooper, A Beattie, M Lipman (capt. J Scaysbrook. 73mins), D Browne

Sin-bin: B James 61mins High tackle.

Newcastle: A Tait, T Visser (S Jones. 67mins), J Noon, T Tu'ipulotu, A Fenby, T May, M Young (H Charlton. 67mins), J Golding (M Ward. 61mins), R Vickers (M Thompson. 62mins), C Hayman, T Swinson, G Parling (M Sorenson. 49mins), P Dowson (capt), B Wilson, A Balding (R Winter. 55mins).

Scorers: Tries – J Maddock (2), A Beattie. Pens – B James (5). Cons – B James (2), S Berne.

Tries – T Visser, B Wilson, A Fenby. Pens – T May (2). Cons – T May (2).

Referee: Andrew Small (Dunstable)