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Chris Ashton scored a hat-trick of tries as Northampton Saints leapt up to second in the Guinness Premiership table with a convincing 28-8 victory over Newcastle on Friday.

In a thoroughly clinical display that highlighted the danger of England men Shane Geraghty and Ben Foden, as well as the industry of second row Juandre Kruger, it was winger Ashton who claimed the head-lines with a superb hat-trick.

The Saints number 14 owed plenty to the imagination of fly-half Geraghty though, who created the first and last try in a mercurial 80-minute outing.

The first half at Kingston Park was set alight by two players trying to further their England international credentials in Northampton colours.

Foden was the first to show why many feel he should be given the 15 jersey by Martin Johnson, preventing a certain Newcastle try before producing the chip-and-charge that put Saints on the front foot for their first touchdown of the evening.

From there it was Geraghty's creative instincts that took centre stage, ignoring three points from under the posts to catch Newcastle sleeping with a quick tap before looping the ball out to Ashton for a 5-0 lead after just eight minutes.

Geraghty missed the difficult conversion, and soon he watched his side get pegged back to 5-3 as Jimmy Gopperth, who kicked five from five against London Irish last week, nailed his first to get the Falcons moving.

Saints silenced the home crowd instantly though with Geraghty punishing Newcastle for coming in at the side, but the 8-3 scoreline did not stop the Falcons asserting their authority for the final 15 minutes of the half.

After Gopperth missed a penalty, the Falcons twice turned down further shots at goal to kick for touch, and after a series of pick-and-drives the ball was switched out to Tom Biggs who finally went over for 8-8.

Gopperth's conversion hit the upright as his standing foot went from beneath him, but there was no doubt over who was in the ascendency as the referee whistled for half time.

That all changed directly after the interval as Saints once again found a way to the Falcons' whitewash - this time thanks entirely to Ashton's own work.

As both sides battled for some sort of control, the ball suddenly found its way to the Northampton winger, who used sheer pace to burst over for a converted 15-8 lead.

Things got worse for the Falcons moments later as Micky Young earned 10 minutes in the bin for deliberately killing the ball, and soon they found themselves 10 points down thanks to Geraghty's second successful penalty of the night.

A third would follow for the England man, who then chose the final play of the game to introduce his party piece, a delightful chip out to the wing allowing Ashton to cap off a superb night's work.

Saints go within seven points of top spot, after leaders Saracens were held to a surprise 12-12 draw by Worcester Warriors.

Sixways played host to an unsurprisingly tetchy affair on Friday, which produced a stop-start first half punctuated only by four penalties.

Willie Walker's dead-eye accuracy proved the difference as he nailed all three of his first-half kicks for the Guinness Premiership strugglers, for whom Craig Gillies was particularly impressive.

By contrast, Derick Hougaard kicked one but missed another for Sarries, which was rather symbolic of his team-mates' inconsistent display - totally belying their top-of-the-table status.

It is the mark of champions to take something from a game when playing badly though, and the visitors dug in during the second half to claw their way into the lead.

Three Hougaard penalties in eight second-half minutes had Sarries ahead, and it appeared they would escape with the victory before Walker pegged them back with seven minutes remaining to move Worcester above Gloucester.

The night's other fixture between Sale Sharks and London Wasps grinded to a halt before the action even got underway, with Edgeley Park deemed unplayable as the referee postponed the match.

According to reports, Sale were happy to go ahead with the contest on what was a slippery muddy surface, but undoubtedly not the worst ever seen.

However, Wasps made their feelings clear that they did not want to endanger their players, so they were quickly back aboard their coach back to London.

Ben Blackmore / Eurosport