It didn’t matter who had the ball in hand, forward or back, as the approach was simple but effective. This soon had Saracens in the Northampton 22, and although a pass was ruled forward, the home scrummaging was powerful enough to force Rob Milligan to knock on.
But the Wanderers defence held, won a penalty and from the resultant lineout Dave Ward went on a defence-splitting run. Unfortunately the play broke down, Saracens half-back Micky Wilson hacked ahead and David Smith had to pull off a superb one-handed pick-up to de-fuse the danger.
Milligan’s handling in a similar defensive situation was also excellent, as was the snaring of a Saracens throw on the Wanderers’ 22. Aside from a couple of attacks from deep, however, there was precious little being seen of the Wanderers as an offensive force.
That changed in the 16th minute. A penalty conceded by Dave Seymour was kicked to the Saracens 22. The lineout move saw Ward again make the initial break down the blindside before the play was spread right. Ollie Storey collected the bouncing pass and the ball rebounded favourably off Will Harries to Joe Ansbro to score. Barry Everitt converted and the Wanderers had a seven-nil lead.
However the one-way traffic resumed shortly after and Saracens were rewarded with a Seymour try that Scottish international stand-off Gordon Ross converted to tie. It took a further four minutes for Saracens to take the lead through Moses Rauluni – playing at centre – with Ross again adding the extras.
There was more to come before the break as Paul Gustard touched down after a 10-metre driving scrum and Ross dived over from close range. His two conversions took the score to 28-7 and reflected the balance of play. The Wanderers weren’t helping themselves either with kick-offs falling a foot short and handling not being up to scratch.
The second half began brightly for the visitors with Ansbro in particular making a good break and the all-round play having more structure. Storey also made a weaving 40-metre run from his own line before combining with Ansbro to take play up to the Saracens 22.
But the Wanderers suffered a setback with an injury to Christian Short, although this brought the return of James Cannon into his first action in several months. For all their endeavour though by the hour mark the breakthrough necessary for a comeback had not been made.
This changed five minutes into the final quarter, and in some style too! Just as he had looked to have run up a blind alley Will Harries slipped out of a tackle, rounded two more defenders at full and touched down to the right of the sticks. Everitt converted and the Wanderers had a glimmer of hope at 28-14.
This was extinguished with five minutes to go when replacement Sakiusa Matadigo crashed over from close range for a try converted by Ross. Tom Collin’s injury-time effort added some more gloss to the score line and with Ross’s sixth conversion the match ended at 42-14 in favour of the hosts.
Teams:
Saracens – Scarbrough; Bishop (Collin 59mins), Staff, Rauluni, Short (Marchon 59mins (Short 61mins)); Ross, Wilson (Owens 40mins); Yates (Liffchak 65mins), Kyriacou (capt)(Walker 65mins), Marcey, Fullarton, Ryder (Preocanin 65mins), Hall (Matadigo 40mins), Seymour (Audley 40mins), Gustard (Saull 40mins).
Wanderers – Harries; Storey (Mogensen 63mins), Ansbro, Anderson, Smith; Everitt, Vass (Peck 74mins); Budgen, Ward, Purbrook, Hoy, Short (Cannon 55mins), Lawes (Giles 70mins), Lewitt (capt), Milligan.
Scorers:
Saracens – Tries: Seymour, Rauluni, Gustard, Ross, Matadigo, Collin; Cons: Ross (6).
Wanderers – Tries: Ansbro, Harries; Cons: Everitt (2).
TIMELINE:
16mins WAND Try Ansbro Con Everitt 0-7
22mins SARRIES Try Seymour Con Ross 7-7
26mins SARRIES Try Rauluni Con Ross 14-7
31mins SARRIES Try Gustard Con Ross 21-7
36mins SARRIES Try Ross Con Ross 28-7
HALF-TIME SARACENS 28 WANDERERS 7
64mins WAND Try Harries Con Everitt 28-14
75mins SARRIES Try Matadigo Con Ross 35-14
84mins SARRIES Try Collin Con Ross 42-14
FULL-TIME SARACENS 42 WANDERERS 14
