Jim Mallinder praised Chris Ashton after the winger scored his first Premiership hat-trick in the 28-8 win over Newcastle.
Falcons boss points to short turnaround
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder praised Chris Ashton after the winger scored his first Guinness Premiership hat-trick in the 28-8 win over Newcastle at Kingston Park.
"He is improving all the time and he had a good all-round game tonight. Not just his try-scoring, but his kicking and defence and he is working very hard at improving," Mallinder said.
Mallinder also praised fly-half Shane Geraghty, who bounced back from being left out of the England stating XV to face New Zealand with a fine display, setting up two of Ashton's tries.
"Someone asked last week if he had lost his confidence," said Mallinder.
"But he showed tonight he hasn't, he is a good player and we are delighted with the way he is playing."
The Northampton boss admitted his side had struggled at times in the first half, but was pleased by their dominant second-half display.
He added: "We made a few mistakes in the first half but we improved in the second half. We tried to play a little too much but we got on top and our scrum was strong, we looked after the ball well and scored some good tries."
Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates felt his side had been hurt by a short turnaround having won at London Irish last Sunday.
Tough games
Bates said: "We allowed them in for a fairly ordinary score early in the second half and they got their noses in front and we were left chasing the game. That gave them a bit of confidence and that was the turning point.
"The key is we have had two really tough games in five days.
"Travelling to Irish and back didn't give us a great deal of time to prepare and with a small squad we have to look at how we deal with those turnarounds, it's really difficult. In the second half that may well have been a factor."
Bates also revealed that the injury suffered by scrum-half Micky Young, who was carried off on a stretcher in the final minute, did not appear to be too serious.
"That's the most important issue. I think he was out cold on the field, he was concussed. He is in the changing room and the medical team are looking after him. He's going to go to hospital for an x-ray."
