Saints edge to narrow win over Newcastle

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Northampton moved top of the Prem table with win over NewcastleGetty Images

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The Prem

Northampton (14) 28

Tries: McParland, Sleightholme, Langdon, Litchfield Cons: Belleau 4

Newcastle (12) 27

Tries: Leatherbarrow, H Obatoyinbo, Cruz, Christie Cons: Connon 2 Pens: Connon

Northampton Saints regained top spot in the Prem table with a hard-fought and often unconvincing 28-27 victory over bottom club Newcastle Red Bulls.

In a performance which displayed layers of rust as the domestic league competition returned for the first time since January, it was the visitors who emerged as the better side on balance of play.

Yet after holding on to edge a tight contest with four tries to Newcastle's three, it was Saints who emerged with a bonus point win, enough for them move above Bath at the top.

Newcastle, who brought physicality to Franklins Gardens which their hosts struggled to match, had to settle for two bonus points for their troubles but will feel they are closer to only a second win of their Prem campaign.

Saints were missing many of their international stars with Fin Smith, Henry Pollock, Tommy Freeman and Danilo Fischetti rested and Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles out injured.

Yet the contest appeared set to go according to form early when Archie McParland took an neat inside offload over in the corner in the first minute, with Anthony Belleau adding the extras.

Newcastle, though, shrugged off the setback with Ollie Leatherbarrow piling over after a Sammy Arnold lineout tip on and Harrison Obatoyinbo racing 50 metres down the left wing to make it 12-5 to the visitors.

A yellow card for a high tackle from Arnold reduced Newcastle to 14, a numerical advantage that Saints utilised when Ollie Sleightholme got on the end of a long looping pass in the right corner to level.

And Belleau converted off the inside of the post to give them a 14-12 lead after 20 minutes.

Newcastle went down to 13 after Adam Brocklebank was binned for use of the boot but they still kept the score 14-12 to the break which said much about the balance of power in the game.

Saints were fortunate to be ahead but extended their lead after 54 minutes when hooker Curtis Langdon broke from the base of a maul in the right corner to make it 19-12, Belleau again converting.

Newcastle, playing under head coach and ex-Wales international fly-half Stephen Jones for the first time, should have been held at arm's length.

But a penalty from Brett Connon, on his 150th appearance for the club, and some sharp handling and movement from Simon Benitez Cruz, the Puma picking up a spilled pass on halfway and racing down the right wing to score, brought Red Bulls backl to within a point at 21-20.

Connon's missed conversion from the right flank which would have given the visitors the lead looked costly with seven and a half minutes to go and so it proved.

Tom Litchfield went over for Saints with two minutes to go, securing a bonus point win with pace down the left, and Belleau added the extra points to give them a 28-20 lead.

That should have been that but Newcastle had one last charge in them, Tom Christie with a pick and go and Connon adding two points which took them right on to the shoulders of their hosts once again, but time was up shortly after the restart.

Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson:

"It was very tense throughout, we couldn't get away from them as they got stuck into us and stopped us from playing.

"The experience will be invaluable for some of the younger players but we understand now what's coming round the corner each week for the rest of the season.

"I can't fault the hard work of the boys but it's frustrating as our set-piece didn't go well. As a result our discipline suffered and we failed to take scoring opportunities, especially in the first part of the second half."

Red Bulls head coach Stephen Jones told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"I am wonderfully proud of the boys and their efforts. Happy with the ability to defend and make sure we made repeated sets and in attack I was happy with our ball movement and our ability to work hard off the ball.

"Overall I am immensely proud of the team effort. We had some good attacking threats and some great standout performances individually.

The cards which took us down to 13 is hugely disappointing. That is frustrating and we need to get that out of our game as we made things difficult for ourselves. But on the flipside how did we perform with 13? It was good.

"We were smart and kept ball. It was definitely a positive but we don't want to be in that situation and that is something we need to address.

"We are fully aware we want to improve our game and we are going to work incredibly hard to improve it. If we keep upping our standards and habits daily we will get what we want."

Northampton: Furbank; Pater, Hutchinson, Litchfield, Ramm; Belleau, McParland; Iyogun, Smith, Green; Prowse, Munga; Lockett, Pearson, Chick (capt).

Replacements: Langdon, West, Kundiona, Ainsworth-Cave, Ulcoq, James, Thame, Sleightholme.

Sin-bin: Ramm (34).

Newcastle: E Obatoyinbo; Spencer, Hearle, Arnold, H Obatoyinbo; Connon, Cruz; Brocklebank, McGuigan (capt), Palframan; Clarke, Scott; Parsons, Christie, Leatherbarrow.

Replacements: Fletcher, McCallum, Little, Hawkins, Gordon, Elliott, Beeckmans, Chamberlain.

Sin-bin: Arnold (21), Brocklebank (23).

Referee: Ian Tempest

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