Guinness Premiership  Round 5

LEICESTER TIGERS v NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

WEDNESDAY Oct 1st WELFORD ROAD - KO 7:45

Leicester 29 Saints 19

Simon Robinson

Dorian West's return to Welford Road was no the fairytale that we were hoping for, as Saints slipped to their third away league defeat of the season. On a cold and stormy night (well OK, not stormy) just up the A5199 the men in black, green and gold lost out 29-19.

The game did not start off well - a knock on by the Saints receiving the kick-off gave Leicester an early chance. Flood stepped up and slotted the kick. 3-0 after a minute or so.

Leicester had another good attacking move, the ball was spread wide and only a late covering tackle by Foden stopped a try. The next lineout saw a Leicester version of Budge's famous "gypsy try" move, however the pass was forward.

An early bonus for the Saints came in the form of Boris Stankovich's yellow card on 9 minutes for punching Euan Murray in the aftermath of a scrum. A penalty a minute later saw Myler even the scores. 3-3 and 10 minutes gone.

An attacking Saints lineout on the Leicester 22 sent Euan over for a try; with Myler's conversion the Saints had a 3-10 lead on 13 minutes. Saints spent the next period of play under severe pressure - a situation duplicated during much of the game - and some desperate defending stopped the Tigers' attack 5 metres out.

A Myler penalty on 22 minutes saw the lead stretch to 7 points. Flood attempted a penalty from halfway six minutes later but missed. A further attempt from closer range with ten minutes left of the half brought the scores to 9-13.

Saints were again on the defensive - a penalty for holding on near their line was moved 10 metres up the field by Chris White for dissent. A rare period of Saints attacking saw Myler put over another kick - the half time score was 9-16.

From my position by the Saints dugout, it was easy to hear Grays' distress at the situation. When Myler went down injured a few minutes before half time, his language could only be described as "colourful". He continued in a similar vein through the second half until it was pointed out there were some youngsters within earshot. Suitably chastised, he instead turned his attention to the assistant referee on the Crumbie side, obviously requesting clarification for some decisions.

Saints were on the back foot after the restart, with the ball not getting into the Leicester half for a long period of play. Most of this was spent in or near the Saints 22. Eventually this pressure paid off, Johne Murphy getting over in the corner. Flood's conversion, from about six inches inside the touchline, went over to level the scores at 16-16 with 24 minutes left of the game.

More pressure from the home team saw the Tigers held up over the line. At this point the Saints brought on their first of only three subs - Tonga'uiha for Tom Smith. Flood missed a penalty on 63 minutes to deny Leicester the lead.

Saints took the initiative again on 67 minutes as a Myler penalty from halfway pushed them ahead 16-19, although from my angle it looked a close call by the men with the flags. Alex Rae joined the game, replacing Matt Lord.

The inevitable Leicester pressure put Dan Hipkiss in for their second try, and on 71 minutes (having had the best of the game thus far) the home team finally led. The conversion from the opposite touchline to the first was put wide by Flood to leave Saints 21-19 down and eight minutes to recover.

While Saints had their chances (a drop goal looked a certainty at one point as Jimmies pushed on into the Tigers' 22) Leicester fought back and were awarded a penalty on the Saints 22. Flood stepped up again and pushed the lead to 24-19. Only three minutes to go, could the away team get back into the game? Dickson came off the bench for Ben Foden to help the attack.

Saints had another attacking opportunity as the clock ran down, but an interception saw Toby Flood intercept and score in the corner (after a delay putting the ball down to try and prevent the restart) but the wide conversion beat him again. The game restarted, Saints attacked, but in vain as the whistle blew for the end of a battling game.

While this is the third Saints away defeat, they have been denied losing bonus points within the last ten minutes of each of them. Here's hoping these points won't be regretted come the end of April.

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