Dowson quick to switch focus to big Bath battle after Saints flay Falcons

The black, green and gold racked up nine tries and refused to concede a single point as they produced a flawless performance in the final game of the calendar year.

But champions Saints remain nine points adrift of the top four in the Gallagher Premiership and they will host table-topping Bath in the first game of 2025 next weekend.

"I've had a lot of joy (in 2024) and not just on the back of results from last season but this season as well," Dowson said.

"We've had a lot of fun, but I don't think you look back on it until later on.

"You have to keep pushing on and we want to make sure we start 2025 in the right way."

Saints have often struggled to get momentum during the current fragmented campaign, leaving them with four wins from their opening nine Premiership matches this season.

And Dowson said: "We've said it before and we said it a couple of weeks ago so we've got to be careful we don't see false dawns every other week.

"We need to make sure what we focus on is Bath and preparing for the top of the table to come here.

"We need to make sure that performance level continues to rise, that we keep pushing and we understand the symptoms for the success of that."

The win against Newcastle was the perfect tonic for the previous weekend's 39-24 loss at Saracens.

And Dowson said: "It was way better and that's where the frustration last week came from because we've got so much capability and so much quality in the group that we can produce performances like we did which was very good from start to finish. We were very pleased with that.

"I know the fans were disappointed from last week and so were the coaches, but the players were most disappointed of all. The players are out there and they don't want to be in the position they were in last week.

"The best opportunity for us to rectify that was today and you saw how engaged the group are."

Josh Kemeny was handed a start against the Falcons, making his first appearance since November 1 after overcoming a leg injury.

And the Australian flanker produced a big performance, which he capped with a try.

"To be able to come back with no warm-up games under his belt, just with training, and to perform like that was excellent," Dowson said.

"He worked incredibly hard and he was blowing when he came off so I'm delighted to see JK back and delighted with how well he played."

Dowson was able to take off the likes of Kemeny, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith early in the game as Saints roared into a 40-0 half-time lead.

"It gave us the opportunity to see Archie McParland for 40 and for Iakopo Mapu to get some game time as well," Dowson said.

"Also for Hutch (Rory Hutchinson), with Furbs (George Furbank) injured, it gave us an opportunity to give him some time in the saddle."