Northampton come from behind to beat Bath

Northampton Saints had to come from behind but beat Bath 15-14 at Franklins Gardens in the Aviva Premiership.

Both teams scored two tries each in the match and the result moves the Saints into fifth place.

Two Jeff Williams tries saw Bath into a surprising 0-14 lead at the break. It was wholly against the run of play as the former sevens player pounced on the frailties of the Saints’ backline to bag a brace.

Northampton’s higher league position showed in the second half as they rallied back. Tries from Teimana Harrison and Mike Haywood got the deficit back to one point before Myler coolly slotted home his conversion attempt to secure victory.

Victory means that the hosts’ European hopes remain in their own hands as they now sit six points clear of seventh placed Quins, having played a game more.

Meanwhile Bath’s collapse is just another disappointing chapter to their season as they can now only finish ninth.

Out of nothing, Bath had the first try of the match in the tenth minute, Williams pouncing upon the ball after Harry Mallinder slipped to touch down. Rhys Priestland’s conversion was successful as the visitors established a seven-point lead.

Williams added his second try in spectacular fashion after 19 minutes. Jonathan Joseph kicked forward a loose ball allowing the former England Sevens man Williams to surge over halfway. He then showed blistering pace to kick it forward and surge onto it to finish. Priestland added the extras to send Bath into an impressive 0-14 lead.

In the 48th minute Bath’s Chris Cook was sent to the sin-bin for kicking the ball out of Lee Dickson’s hands.

After 56 minutes, Northampton scored their first try. Harrison handed off Matt Banahan to score out wide. Myler missed his conversion to leave the deficit at nine points.

Myler atoned for his error five minutes later, scoring a penalty from in front of the posts to make the score 8-14.

With eight minutes left to play Northampton scored a try that could prove crucial. Haywood broke off the back of a rolling maul to bundle over. This meant that the match would be decided by Myler’s conversion attempt, and he was successful.

Final Score Northampton Saints 15 (0) Bath 14 (14)

Scorers

Northampton Saints
Tries – Harrison, Haywood
Pen – Myler
Con – Myler
Drop –

Bath
Tries – Williams 2
Pen –
Con – Priestland 2
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee : Wayne Barnes (168th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Paul Burton & Nigel Carrick.
TMO: Sean Davey.

Teams

Northampton

15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (c), 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller

Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Campese Ma’Afu, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Jj Hanrahan, 23 Harry Mallinder

Bath

15 Anthony Watson , 14 Jeff Williams , 13 Jonathan Joseph , 12 Ollie Devoto , 11 Matt Banahan , 10 Rhys Priestland , 9 Chris Cook , 1 Nathan Catt , 2 Rob Webber , 3 David Wilson , 4 Charlie Ewels , 5 Dave Attwood , 6 Matt Garvey , 7 Francois Louw (c) , 8 David Denton

Replacements :16 Tom Dunn , 17 Nick Auterac , 18 Max Lahiff , 19 Dominic Day , 20 Leroy Houston , 21 Will Homer , 22 George Ford , 23 Max Clark