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| 10 May 2003, 5:44 pm |
| Saints Go Third! |
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NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 28
LEEDS TYKES 6
Franklin's Gardens
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Northampton Saints took third position and a semi-final place in the Zurich Premiership play-offs thanks to three tries and a little bit of help from Buck Shelford's men down at Vicarage Road.
Saints knew a win over Leeds would guarantee them a place in the Heineken Cup this season - for the fifth year in a row - and knew they had a slim chance of making third place if Saracens could beat the Sharks.
Well, Saints won and Saracens won, and the third place dream became a reality.
However, the first half of the game was nothing to write home about and made for very tense viewing for the sell-out crowd. Leeds' centre Braam Van Straaten, who is off to Sharks next season, had five penalty kicks but only managed to convert two of them, but they still gave the visitors a 0-6 lead after 27 minutes.
Paul Grayson, not on goal-kicking duty due to a sore ankle, did manage a drop-goal though in the 28th minute to take Saints back to 3-6. But it took Peter Jorgensen's 11th try of the season to settle the crowd's nerves. The former Wallaby cannot help himself when he is within a sniff of the try line and his effort gave Saints the lead. Scrum-half Matt Dawson was the official goal-kicker of the afternoon and he failed to make the conversion, but more worryingly, he also missed the penalty on the stroke of half-time. The Grand Slam hero hurt his hip as he struck the ball and was quickly replaced in the second half by James Brooks.
Wing Bruce Reihana was the man next in line for kicking duties and he pulled Saints further ahead with two penalties that meant Saints were 14-6 ahead by the 56th minute. By that point, the news was filtering through that Saracens were comprehensively beating Sharks, and Saints could go third if they held onto their lead.
But Saints were not content to just hold on. Hooker Steve Thompson's try in the 76th minute brought the crowd to its feet, and when replacement wing Oriol Ripol went over in the 80th minute, the stadium erupted. But there was still time for one more goal-kicker to step up. And it was the turn of Jorgensen, playing in his final game at Franklin's Gardens, who slotted home the conversion to take Saints to 28-6 win.
Teams:
Northampton Saints - Beal (Ripol 77mins); Reihana, Jorgensen, Leslie (capt), Cohen; Grayson, Dawson (Brooks 43mins); Stewart, Thompson, Morris (Budgen 55mins), Williams (Seely 67mins), Lord, Connors, Fox, Blowers.
Leeds Tykes: Albanese (Emerson 40-41mins); Harder, Davies, Van Straaten, Stanley (Hall 51mins); Ross, Dickens (Hegarty 67mins); Shelley (capt), Regan (C Murphy 67mins), Holt (Kerr 67 mins), C Murphy (Rawlinson 63mins), Palmer, Mather, Hyde (P Murphy), Feaunati (Pophan 48mins).
Referee:
David McHugh
Touch judges:
Sean Davey & Paul Emerson
Scorers:
Northampton Saints - Tries: Jorgensen, Thompson, Ripol; Cons: Reihana, Jorgensen; Pens: Reihana (2); DG: Grayson.
Leeds Tykes - Pens: Van Straaten (2).
Yellow cards:
Regan (55mins)
Attendance:
12,500
Travis Perkins man of the match:
Andrew Blowers
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