A rousing evening in Hawick and a massive confidence boost for Edinburgh ahead of the new season.

In their final warm-up match, the capital side may have looked a little ring rusty at times, but their appetite was beyond question as they smashed into contact with an enthusiasm that was horribly absent last season.

Critically, their big hitters were outstanding, none more so than Dave Denton, who again looked like the player who made such a sensational breakthrough two years ago. Denton put in a power of work all evening, and it was no surprise that his final duty was to pick up the man of the match award.

"It was important for the guys to put the effort in tonight and start building confidence," said Edinburgh coach Alan Solomons as he celebrated his first win in charge. "I believe they did that with a lot of hard work."

Against their English Premiership opponents, there were also some conspicuously useful performances by Sean Cox, Greig Tonks and Willem Nel. Edinburgh may rue the fact they could not cross their oppnents' line, but they will take comfort from their own defensive showing, even if they did slip up once to concede a try.

Newcastle might have had a host of former Edinburgh players in their ranks, but there was never any danger that the match could be mistaken for some sort of old pals' act. In fact, with Edinburgh bristling with aggression from the off, it seemed their most robust tackles were reserved for their former team-mates.

The best of them was the bone-crunching effort with which Greig Laidlaw all but chopped Mike Blair in half. Blair seemed nonplussed by the tackle, and then momentarily squared up to his fellow scrum-half; the steam went out of the situation before one of rugby's more improbable brawls could develop further.

There was also a notable charge by Dave Denton that left Phil Godman flat on his backside and utterly shorn of his dignity. Godman might not have appreciated it, but there was an uplifting ferocity in so much of what Edinburgh did in the first half, in stark contrast to the depressingly feeble patterns of last season.

Edinburgh ended that period 9-0 ahead, courtesy of penalties by Laidlaw in the sixth, ninth and 35th minutes. The closest Newcastle had got to the scoreboard in the opening 40 minutes was a fourth-minute penalty attempt by Godman that drifted wide of the posts.

Indeed, it was hard to recall a single passage of sustained Newcastle pressure during the first half, although Blair did produce one brilliant solo break that saw him scatter the Edinburgh defence as he scampered 40 yards up the pitch. However, the pattern of Edinburgh dominance did not survive the interval, for as soon as the teams returned it was clear a tactical switch had been thrown into Newcastle's approach.

So instead of being under the cosh, the north-east side indulged in a spot of coshing themselves. All things considered, Edinburgh did well to survive the onslaught as long as they did, but the omens were dark when Nick De Luca was sin-binned for a high tackle in the 46th minute. Newcastle, scenting blood, turned the screws even harder, and the Blair-Godman axis worked beautifully in the 51st minute when a blindside dart by the former Scotland scrum-half sent the former Scotland fly-half over for a try.

Newcastle kept up the pressure, but there was a growing sense of assurance about Edinburgh, and they made it tell late in the game as Piers Francis clipped over two penalties to make the win that bit more comfortable.

Scorer. Edinburgh Pens: Laidlaw (3), Francis (2)

Newcastle Try: Godman

Edinburgh G Tonks; J Cuthbert, D Fife, N De Luca, T Brown; P Francis, G Laidlaw; A Dickinson, R Ford, WP Nel, G Gilchrist, I Van der Westhuizen, S Cox, R Grant, D Denton.

Subs: G Cross, L Niven, O Atkins, H Watson, S Kennedy, B Atiga.

Newcastle Falcons T Catterick; A Higgins, D Barne, J Helleur, R Shortland; P Godman, M Blair; F Montanella, S Lawson, K Brooke, F McKenzie, S MacLeod, W Welch, A Saull, A Hogg.

Subs: R Vickers; M Thompson, S Wilson, D Barrow, M Wilson, W Fury, J Hodgson, A Powell, A Tait.

Referee N Paterson (SRU)

Attendance 4035