Buoyed on by the vocal support of a near-sell-out crowd, the Falcons fronted up and delivered commitment in abundance, racing to a 20-12 half-time lead before outlasting a spirited comeback from the Midlanders.
Former Tiger James Grindal scooped man-of-the-match honours after an industrious afternoon at the coal face, but to single players out from a performance built on the collective ethic would not do justice to a game in which the players stood up and met an immense physical challenge head-on.
As early as two minutes in Newcastle were in the lead via the boot of fly half Jonny Wilkinson as Leicester could not resist slowing down ruck ball with an energetic Falcons pack like bees round the honey pot at the point of contact.
There was better to come just three minutes later, as hooker Andy Long smashed his way over the try line from close range on the back of superb running from barnstorming winger John Rudd and ever-ready lock Andy Perry.
Even a fightback try from Jordan Crane down the blindside could not extinguish the Newcastle flame in a game where they never once trailed on the scoreboard, Wilkinson's second penalty extending the lead after flanker Ross Beattie had smashed Ben Kay to the ground in an aggressive carry which summed up the home team's collective desire.
That was in evidence as Rudd flew out of the defensive line to produce a try-saving man-and-ball hit on Tom Varndell inside the Newcastle 22, a feat repeated by centre Tom Dillon as his blitz defence and vice-like grip on the tackled player prevented scores on more than one occasion.
With Leicester down to 14 men as lock Marco Wentzel spent ten minutes in the sin bin, the visitors showed the resilience which has propelled them to the top half of the league as Varndell sniped down the blindside to score in the left corner, reducing Newcastle's lead to just one point.
But Newcastle demonstrated their team ethic as skipper Phil Dowson pumped the legs for a powerful try down the left hand side from a close-range scrum, having profited from Grindal's snipe and scissor pass to Carl Hayman which had produced the set-piece in the first place.
Wilkinson's conversion ensured an eight-point advantage at the interval, and after an Andy Goode penalty early in to the second half there was then more for the home fans to shout about, as Tom May rounded off a superb counter attack try.
Central to its creation was fly half Jonny Wilkinson, who ran from his own 22, picked his gap to run through and raced inside the Tigers half, drawing the defence before giving the killer pass for May to outpace Benjamin Kayser and dive over in the right corner.
A Wilkinson penalty then extended the lead to 13 as Leicester found themselves offside from a kick ahead, but with man-of-the-match Grindal in the sin-bin for offending at the fringes of a ruck inside his own 22,replacement fly half Sam Vesty stroked home the first three points in a strong Leicester comeback.
With Visser countering well from his own 22 and replacement hooker Rob Vickers showing superb breakdown skills to pinch the ball at ruck time the Falcons were in no mood to give up, even when Varndell raced under the posts for Leicester's third try which had more than a hint of crossing.
Vesty's conversion reduced the deficit to a nerve-jangling three points going in to the final eight minutes, but such was the determination and will to win of this Newcastle team that the Tigers could not find the vital score.
Newcastle Falcons:
Tries: Long, Dowson, May
Cons: Wilkinson 2
Pens: Wilkinson 3
Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Varndell 2, Crane
Cons: Goode, Vesty
Pens: Goode, Vesty
Newcastle Falcons:
15 Mathew Tait
14 Tom May
13 Tom Dillon
12 Tim Visser
11 John Rudd
10 Jonny Wilkinson
9 James Grindal
1 Jon Golding (David Wilson, 64)
2 Andy Long (Rob Vickers, 63)
3 Carl Hayman
4 Andy Perry (Tim Swinson, 76)
5 Geoff Parling
6 Ross Beattie (Russell Winter, 63)
7 Ben Woods
8 Phil Dowson (captain)
Leicester Tigers:
15 Geordan Murphy
14 Tom Varndell
13 Dan Hipkiss
12 Aaron Mauger
11 Alesana Tuilagi
10 Andy Goode (Sam Vesty, 54)
9 Harry Ellis
1 Martin Castrogiovanni (Marcos Ayerza, 50)
2 Benjamin Kayser (Mefin Davies, 60)
3 Julian White
4 Marco Wentzel (Richard Blaze, 64)
5 Ben Kay
6 Martin Corry (captain)
7 Tom Croft
8 Jordan Crane
Referee: Andrew Small
Attendance: 9,184
