NEWCASTLE Falcons will have to overhaul a five-point deficit in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final after a dramatic late try condemned them to a shock defeat at Leeds.

Ryan Burrows scored a stoppage-time try to inflict only Falcons' second defeat of the season and ensure nerves will be jangling at Kingston Park on Sunday afternoon.

Dean Richards' side might have finished 24 points clear of the chasing pack in the regular season, but they struggled to wrest the initiative from an in-form Leeds side this afternoon and cannot afford to take anything for granted in six days time.

They will still start as marginal favourites given their strong record on home soil for the majority of the season, but a campaign that had looked like a stroll back to the Aviva Premiership has suddenly developed the potential for a debilitating sting in the tail.

Richards will have been most concerned at the way in which Leeds were able to carve the Falcons defence apart at Headingley Carnegie, and the Yorkshire side underlined their attacking prowess as they opened the scoring midway through the first half.

Centre Josh Griffin powered forward from deep inside his own half, he slipped the ball to Fred Burdon, and after Falcons full-back Alex Tait was forced to move across to cover, Stevie McColl was left with an easy run to the line.

Joe Ford's conversion extended Leeds' lead, and while Falcons got themselves on the scoresheet with a Jimmy Gopperth penalty shortly after, a Newcastle error from the restart enabled Ford to restore his side's seven-point advantage.

Ford's second penalty of the game, from just in front of the posts, made it 13-3, but Newcastle finally found their form in the closing stages of the first half as their handling ability and forward power began to tell.

Gopperth was dragged over the touchline when he looked destined to score, but from the resultant line-out, Ally Hogg stole possession and scrambled over in the corner.

Gopperth's conversion took Falcons to within three points, and the experienced fly-half, who is heading to Leinster at the end of the season, levelled things with the final kick of the first half.

The second half was a more attritional affair than the first, but Gopperth's composure looked like giving Newcastle a healthy platform to take into the second leg at Kingston Park.

The New Zealander landed two more penalties to secure a 19-13 advantage heading into the final ten minutes.

Ford's coolly-struck penalty brought Leeds back to within three, and the Carnegie fly-half levelled the scores in the final minutes of normal time.

That was dramatic enough, but there was to be a final twist as Leeds scored their second try in stoppage time. Falcons conceded a penalty from a scrum, but Leeds number eight Burrows picked up the ball from the base and caught his opponents napping.

He surged upfield and held off the last defender to score, but Ford missed the conversion attempt that would have opened up a seven-point gap. Newcastle will hope it proves a crucial failure when the sides meet again at the weekend.