With the Bees arriving at Franklin’s Gardens rooted to the bottom of the table, many in the crowd would no doubt have expected a repeat of the previous home match a fortnight before.

This sentiment would no doubt have hardened in the first 10 minutes as Saints scored two tries with relative ease. Stephen Myler’s break led to Robbie Kydd’s opening try in the sixth minute with Myler himself adding a second try four minutes later, although he failed to add either touchline conversion.

Unfortunately there was not a good sight for Saints fans in the 17th minute when Sean Lamont had to be helped off the field after staying down following a ruck.

But the Bees’ belied their lowly position to scrap away for the rest of the half and score two tries. Both came through the forwards for Stewart Pearl and Alex Davidson respectively and both finished off lineout catch and drives as Saints conceded penalties close to their line.

These scores sandwiched a Carlos Spencer try in the Shrubbery Corner which Myler again failed to convert. Jon Higgins, on the other hand, succeeded with his second attempt and with the clock just past the half-hour mark there were only three points between the sides.

The Saints pack had been driven over for the Bees second try and in the hosts’ next possession they got their own back by driving the visitors back fully 30 metres. Unfortunately this didn’t end in a try, nor did Alex Rae’s charge to the line that ended with a dropped ball.

The bonus point try, and a relatively comfortable cushion, came on the stroke of half-time from Kydd. This time Myler added his first set of extras and Saints went into the break 20-12 ahead.

The lead was extended by another five points as many minutes into the second half. In what would become a mirror of Saints’ sixth try 15 minutes later a five-metre lineout was driven over with Travis Perkins man of the match Soane Tonga’uiha at the bottom of the pile of bodies.

Dylan Hartley was the next beneficiary in the same right-hand corner a minute shy of the hour. But Saints suffered a scare in the 56th minute when former Senior Academy centre Ashley Maggs snaffled an interception and raced in from 80 metres for a try converted by Higgins.

However as the second half wore on it became increasingly apparent that these seven points would become an anomaly in the one-way traffic of Saints tries.

Mark Easter scored from another catch and drive before the backs took over. Myler scored his second with 11 minutes to go. He has made plenty of tries for Chris Ashton this season with good kicks. This time Ashton returned the favour by managing to get a chip away while being tackled. Myler touched down as he was sliding into the South Stand perimeter boards but shrugged off the knock to convert.

There were no after-effects either as he converted the last two tries of the afternoon, both of which were scored by Paul Diggin. The second was the best of the afternoon and finished off the match.

Mark Robinson broke from deep, Spencer and Jon Clarke took the move deep into Bees territory and Diggin finished the try off.

It had been shaky at times and very close on the scoreboard for 10 first-half minutes, but Saints had their tenth win of the season and an increasingly healthy points difference.

Teams:
Northampton Saints – Spencer; Ashton, Starling (Clarke 53mins), Kydd, Lamont (Diggin 17mins); Myler, Vass (Robinson 44mins); Tonga’uiha, Shields (Hartley 44mins), Stewart (capt)(Smith 70mins), Lord (Short 67mins), Rae, Tupai, Lewitt (Rudzki 53mins), Easter.

Pertemps Bees – Spee; Aston, Murchie, Maggs, Mangeolles (Uduoza 53mins); Higgins (capt), Griffiths (Knight 48mins); Long (Catt 48mins), Pearl, Osborne (Bucknall 64mins), Davidson (Halavatau 40mins), Campton (Preece 73mins), Matthews, Daish, Earnshaw.

Northampton Saints – Tries: Kydd (2), Myler (2), Spencer, Tonga’uiha, Hartley, Easter, Diggin (2); Cons: Myler (5).

Pertemps Bees – Tries: Pearl, Davidson, Maggs; Cons: Higgins (2).

Yellow card:
Ashton (31mins)
Knight (62mins)

Attendance:
10,457

Travis Perkins man of the match:
Soane Tonga’uiha

TIMELINE:
6mins SAINTS Try Kydd 5-0
10mins SAINTS Try Myler 10-0
19mins BEES Try Pearl 10-5
24mins SAINTS Try Spencer 15-5
31mins SAINTS Yellow card Ashton
31mins BEES Try Davidson Con Higgins 15-12
40+3mins SAINTS Try Kydd Con Myler 22-12
HALF-TIME SAINTS 22 BEES 12
43mins SAINTS Try Tonga’uiha 27-12
56mins BEES Try Maggs Con Higgins 27-19
59mins SAINTS Try Hartley 32-19
62mins BEES Yellow card Knight
66mins SAINTS Try Easter Con Myler 39-19
69mins SAINTS Try Myler Con Myler 46-19
79mins SAINTS Try Diggin Con Myler 53-19
82mins SAINTS Try Diggin Con Myler 60-19
FULL-TIME SAINTS 60 BEES 19