Leicester Tigers suffered a 19-point, 45-26 defeat to Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park in Round 15 of the 2022/23 Gallagher Premiership.

A second-half fightback, which included 21 points to the home side's 17, wasn't enough for victory but did ensure Tigers returned to the East Midlands with a competition point for four tries.

Both teams were engaged in a territorial battle for the opening 10 minutes, through the boot of both half-backs and full-backs, before the home side were the first to take advantage of a chance deep inside Leicester's half.

A lineout 5m out from the visitors line was won and brought down, before the ball was played out to the left and - just a few phases following the set piece - Mateo Carreras crossed for the first of the match.

Brett Connon converted the score to see Falcons lead 7-0 after 11 minutes.

Newcastle looked certain to score a second only a few minutes later when Carreras broke away down the left hand touchline before chipping ahead and colliding with Freddie Steward in the chase.

The collision was deemed the fault of the Tigers full-back and, in the potential scoring sequence, resulted in a yellow card for Steward and 10 minutes a man down for his side.

Newcastle looked to make the most of their overlap but were sent away on successive occasions by Tigers, who held on to not concede any points during the sin-bin period. 

However, only two minutes after Steward's return, Carreras was at it again down the left wing and kicked ahead only for Dan Kelly to prevent a second for the Argentinian with a scrambling effort at the back.

Kelly knocked on in the try-saving effort which saw the home side awarded a scrum 5m out and, only two phases following the set piece, they crashed over from close range through Callum Chick.

Connon's conversion meant the lead was out to 14 points, albeit not for long after Tigers mounted pressure and broke through down their left wing with some impressive interplay down the blind side.

Matt Scott, who made the break, was cut down just inches from the Falcons line but from the next phase, Ben Youngs saw an opportunity and took it when he dived over in the corner for Leicester's first.

Newcastle ensured the Tigers fightback was halted soon after their first score with a double from Carreras.

The first, on the inside of Connon close to Tigers line, stretched the lead to 16 points before he intercepted a pass inside his own half and ran the length of the field to secure his hat-trick before the break and a 28-5 lead closing in on half-time.

Tigers looked to have cut the deficit by seven points after five successive penalties against the hosts on their own line at maul time. 

Newcastle lock Greg Peterson was sent to the sin-bin but not penalty try awarded before Charlie Clare looked to have crossed when the referee awarded the front-rower a try, only for it to be overturned after the TMO spotted a knock-on.

The disallowed try meant the gap remained at 23 points at the break.

Leicester came out firing in the second-half and found themselves on the Falcons line just two minutes in which was converted from close range as Ollie Chessum crashed through to reach out and score.

Charlie Atkinson, in his first Premiership start for the club, converted to close the gap to 16 points before Falcons extended it out to 19 with a penalty-goal for Connon a few minutes later.

Approaching the hour mark and the hosts had their fifth with hooker Jamie Blamire scoring from the back of a driving maul and Connon converted to see them lead 38-12.

Sean Jansen was brought on in the back-row and helped up the tempo with his barraging style in attack before being held up over the line.

Tigers were down to 14 men in the 68th minute when Tommy Reffell was shown a yellow card but rallied to score a third when Jimmy Gopperth crossed on the wing after coming on in a backline reshuffle following injury to Harry Simmons.

Gopperth's try was converted by Atkinson with a drop-kick from the touchline.

Two minutes later and Falcons score their sixth and final try when former Leicester centre Matías Moroni crossed under the posts for the hosts and Connon converted to see them out to 45 points.

Reffell's sin bin ended with a milestone moment for Emeka Ilione, who came on for his fellow back-rower with two minutes remaining to make his Premiership debut.

With time up on the clock, Tigers continued to press for a bonus-point score and were rewarded for their perseverance when Jansen - who was denied early - crashed through and scored, which was converted by Atkinson, to see the difference finish at 19 points at Kingston Park.