Coach Jim Mallinder was satisfied with Northampton's 30-18 win over Treviso but urged his players to cut out their mistakes.
Saints chief satisfied with win but wary of careless errors
Northampton coach Jim Mallinder urged his players not to repeat the mistakes made in Saturday's 30-18 win over Treviso when they travel to Italy for the return fixture next weekend.
Saints fought back from 13-3 down to secure a vital Heineken Cup home victory as Chris Ashton (two), Ben Foden and Joe Ansbro all touched down.
But Mallinder was not too pleased with some aspects of his side's performance as they gifted their opponents early points with some sloppy play.
"We talked before the game about not playing basketball rugby from minute one, but we did try some off-loads that were not on, and that early charge-down try could have proved costly," he stated.
"But we know now that we will have to be at our very best in Treviso next week if we are to go into the New Year in a strong Heineken Cup position."
England international Foden scored late in the first half to halve the deficit and Mallinder declared himself satisfied with the second-half display.
"Ben Foden's try on the stroke of half-time was crucial because it meant we gained some impetus going out after the break," he continued.
"Here is a player who loves to attack space and play with ball in hand. He is consistently effective.
"Shane Geraghty had a few first-half problems, but I was confident he would sort himself out.
"He did very well to come out and play the way he did after the break, as did Chris Ashton.
"He's young and learning, but Chris is a poacher of tries. He scored a sackful in National Division One, and now has 13 in as many games at the top level."
Pool 1 remains a tight affair with Munster a point ahead of Northampton who are in turn three clear of Perpignan.
"Ours is a tight group, perhaps the tightest given Munster's 24-23 win over Perpignan Friday night," added Mallinder.
"It will be interesting to see how they fare next week, because both of them have to come to us."
Franco upbeat
Treviso coach Franco Smith was left to rue Foden's match-turning score on the stroke of half-time but pleased by his side's continued improvement.
"The same thing happened to us against Munster when we led but failed to sustain how we began," he commented. "But we want to become competitive, to be respected in Europe.
"We lost this because of little things we did wrong. They are accustomed to playing at this high level every week.
"For the good of Italian rugby, we need to be playing this level of game regularly, so when we have two sides in the Magners League it will help us create a strong Italian side for the Six Nations.
"Our scrum did well, but if we had kept them out for another 30 seconds we would have led 13-3 and who knows how they would have reacted."
