NEWCASTLE Falcons maintained their 100 per cent start to the Championship season with a comfortable 37-3 win over Doncaster Knights at Kingston Park.

Falcons scored four tries for the third game in succession, meaning they have claimed a maximum 15 points as they have made an ideal start to life in English rugby's second tier.

Tonight's success came after a tight opening and owed much to Newcastle's forward dominance.

The hosts opened the scoring midway through the first half when a series of Doncaster infringements close to the try line led to the award of a penalty try.

Jimmy Gopperth added the conversion, but Doncaster scored their only points of the evening shortly after when Jamie Lennard landed a penalty.

Gopperth added two penalties of his own before half-time, and Falcons claimed their second try when some powerful mauling and ball carrying resulted in a score for prop Jonny Golding.

With some desperate Doncaster defending leading to the visitors losing a player to the sin bin, Newcastle claimed a third try when Mark Wilson rounded off a powerful driving maul.

And Gopperth secured the bonus point late on when he completed a patient attacking move to add a try to his final tally of three penalties and four conversions.

Newcastle Falcons: Gopperth, Fielden, Tu'ipulotu, Fitzpatrick (Crockett), Catterick, Luveniyali (Hodgson), Lawson; Golding, Thompson (Vickers), Tomaszczyk (Hall), MacLeod, Hudson (Tomes), Mayhew, Welch (Wilson), Hogg.