Saracens reduced Leicester's lead to just 3 points at the top of the table after seeing off Newcastle Falcons at Vicarage Road.
The Londoners had to rally late on to make sure Newcastle made the long journey home empty handed after a gutsy display from the away side.
Falcons got off to a bad start when Jimmy Gopperth put the kick-off straight into touch and collapsed the resulting scrum. Alex Goode pushed the resulting penalty wide however, to let Newcastle temporarily off the hook.
The reprieve didn't last long though as Saracens' James Short crossed on the left following a break by Goode and a neat pass inside to Chris Wyles. Goode once again failed to slot his kick between the sticks.
Despite being pegged back for long periods, Gopperth had the chance to pull Newcastle back into the game but he was unsuccessful with a kick from half way. This allowed Goode to atone for his earlier misses and he duly obliged to put Saracens 8-0 to the good.
Saracens then began to look dangerous, creating several half chances in an attempt to stretch their lead with half time approaching. The home side lacked a cutting edge at the right time however and Newcastle's defence managed to hold on.
Goode then missed his third kick in four attempts and was penalised as Gopperth reduced Falcons' arrears by slotting home a penalty in the 34th minute. After a change of kicker, Owen Farrell then cancelled out Gopperth's effort to send the sides in at the break with the scores at 11-3.
Newcastle started the second half brightly and in the 44th minute cut Sarries lead to 5 points after the ever reliable Gopperth kicked over his second penalty.
Saracens looked set to respond with a try shortly after but skipper Steve Borthwick knocked on in the corner with the try line looming.
Although Gopperth added his third penalty to leave the game finely poised going into the final 20 minutes, Newcastle failed to keep control of the ball and Farrell stepped up again to nudge Saracens clear.
Ally Hogg of Newcastle was then harshly sin binned for deliberately killing the ball and with that their hopes appeared to fade. 5 minutes later Farrell slotted over once more as tired Falcons legs entered a ruck from the side.
With that, the contest was all but over and Newcastle began to try to salvage a crucial bonus point.
It wasn't to be however, and their misery was compounded when a powerful run from Noah Cato required 3 Falcons defenders to stop him. Jared Saunders took advantage of the resulting gaps to dash over for the final try of the game. Owen Farrell was again successful with the conversion as the game finished 24-9.
The result leaves Saracens clinging to Leicester's tails at the head of the Aviva Premiership whilst Newcastle continue to look over their shoulders with a relegation decider against Leeds looming.
