The penalty was earned by superb control around the fringes which eventually forced an offside, although had any of the Nottingham backs spotted an unmarked 20-metre blind-side in the build-up a try could have been forthcoming.
Nevertheless to leave Saints’ 22 with points was the main thing, especially given the relentless rain. Despite this Saints insisted on throwing the ball around with a pair of quick throw-ins and running moves from deep.
What didn’t work so well in the opening exchanges however was the lineout, and the Nottingham jumpers nicked two in quick succession. One led to more pressure on the Saints line, but the defence was up to the challenge and won a penalty.
The next few throw-ins were won prompting Stephen Myler to kick a 23-rd minute penalty to the corner. But this was lost, as was the subsequent throw on the 22, and Nottingham cleared. Saints’ opening points came not long after, in the 25th minute, when Myler kicked a penalty in a similar position on the other side of the field.
In between Chris Ashton had also had two try opportunities created by Myler kicks. And it was a high kick from the fly-half that created the first try in the 29th minute. Robbie Kydd’s chase forced a defensive fumble and Myler himself crossed the whitewash before adding the extras for a 10-3 lead.
The last 10 minutes of the half belonged to the visitors. Myler completed his full house with a well-taken 37th-minute drop-goal and then the forwards camped out on the Nottingham line. Points were beckoning but the home defence held out and the half ended with the Saints leading 13-3.
Both sides had their opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. A promising Saints attack ended when Bruce Reihana’s slid kick was swept up and a Nottingham threat finished in a similar fashion immediately afterwards.
Indeed scoring opportunities were few and far between in the third quarter and Saints were unable to build much concerted pressure thanks to home pressure in the lineout and scrum. But the substitution of both props which followed Saints being pushed off their own ball paid dividends immediately with a 56th-minute penalty that Myler pushed right of the sticks.
The Saints pack was powerless to stop the home pack six minutes later however. A lineout catch became a powerful maul and a try for replacement hooker Alex Loney. Tonks converted and to the delight of many of the healthy crowd it was a three-point ball game.
The thousands of travellers had their turn to cheer three minutes after that when Myler curled in his second penalty from wide out. From then on it was end-to-end stuff with both sides showing enterprise out wide and good work in rucks and mauls.
Nottingham were still dominating the lineout however which allowed them to control the majority of possession in the final minutes. But the thin white line held and Saints took home the points.
Teams:
Nottingham – Nirmalendran; Tonks, Smith, Molenaar, Dodge; Thompson (Barlow 51mins (Savage 84mins)), Usasz (Pilgrim 72mins); Parr (Hopkins 63mins), Duffey (Loney 53mins), Hall, Morley, Rouse, Raven (Stannard 57mins), Hammond (capt), Montague.
Northampton Saints – Spencer; Ashton, Clarke, Kydd, Reihana (capt); Myler, Robinson (Vass 71mins); Smith (Tonga’uiha 55mins), Hartley (Shields 68mins), Murray (Stewart 55mins), Rudzki, Short (Lord 60mins), Tupai, Fox, Easter.
Scorers:
Nottingham – Try: Loney; Con: Tonks; Pen: Tonks.
Northampton Saints – Try: Myler; Con: Myler; Pens: Myler (2); Drop-goal: Myler.
Attendance:
4,751
TIMELINE:
9mins NOTT Pen Tonks 3-0
25mins SAINTS Pen Myler 3-3
29mins SAINTS Try Myler Con Myler 3-10
37mins SAINTS Drop-goal Myler 3-13
HALF-TIME NOTTINGHAM 3 SAINTS 13
62mins NOTT Try Loney Con Tonks 10-13
65mins SAINTS Pen Myler 10-16
FULL-TIME NOTTINGHAM 10 SAINTS 16
