It was Derby Day defeat for Northampton Saints in miserable conditions as the beginnings of Storm Boelo blew through Mattioli Woods Welford Road, with the final scoreline swayed 28-7 in hosts Leicester Tigers’ favour.
Northampton had fired the first shot in Round 4 of the Gallagher PREM, when 19-year-old James Pater pounced on loose ball to start the scoring after just seven minutes.
But that was the only score Saints had to offer on Derby Weekend, as Leicester crossed for four tries of their own the take home the bragging rights.
FIRST HALF:
An early advantage for Saints gave them their first attacking platform of the game, when Tigers were found off their feet at the breakdown. Fin Smith spotted space in behind the home defence and sent a deft chip over the top; Freddie Steward got to it first but fumbled the ball in the hounding rain and allowed Pater to dive on it for Saints’ score.
A long-range penalty from the Tigers fullback got Leicester on the board just after, but it was again the away side who got straight back on the attack – only for the slippery ball to be fumbled close to the whitewash and for Tigers to clear their lines.
The home side had the final opportunity of the first half but a mammoth defensive effort from Saints, where George Hendy and Henry Pollock muscled Adam Radwan into touch, saw the teams enter the sheds – albeit reluctantly when a scuffle broke out on the half-time whistle – with the scoreline at 3-7 to Saints.
SECOND HALF:
Leicester reverted to their forwards’ power from the restart, capitalising on a string of Saints offside penalties to force their driving maul over – with Aaron Wainwright the man at the base to ground the ball.
Billy Searle sent his touchline conversion wide to keep Tigers’ lead to just a point, but it was not one that Saints could make them relinquish.
The hosts pulled ahead around the hour mark in with a speedy brace. First, slick hands saw Gabriel Hamer-Webb fire a looping pass over to Cameron Henderson on the left, where the lock stretched over, before another powerplay from a driving maul saw Finn Carnduff dot the ball down.
Two more missed conversions from Searle meant the scoreline sat 18-7 in Leicester’s favour and Saints tried to hit back, with Ion Neculai’s break getting play close only for the ball to be stripped by the home side just before Saints could reach the tryline.
Searle was eventually successful from the tee in the game’s 67th minute, adding three points with his boot when Saints were found off their feet inside their own 22.
Saints’ best shot of the second half came when a Smith crossfield kick found Hendy on the left. The winger set off, beating two of Leicester’s defenders out wide, only for his offload to be deliberately knocked on by Radwan – who saw a yellow card for his actions.
As the game was being reset, however, the TMO intervened to show a high shot on Solomone Kata in the build-up and Radwan’s yellow was reversed, with Tom Lockett instead sent to the sin bin.
Down to 14, Saints could not match Tigers’ driving maul and when bodies were sucked into that, the home side sent the ball out to the midfield for Steward to crash over in space under the posts and seal the Derby Day victory.
LINE-UPS:
TIGERS: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Archie van der Flier, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Cameron Henderson, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Finn Carnduff, 8 Olly Cracknell.
Replacements: 16 Richie Asiata, 17 Tarek Haffark, 18 Will Hurd, 19 James Thompson, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 George Pearson.
SAINTS: 15 James Pater, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Henry Pollock.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 JJ Van Der Mescht , 20 Tom Lockett, 21 Callum Chick, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.