Saints find their form

The Gloucester defence deals with Northampton centre Jon Clarke

Northampton ended a run of four straight Aviva Premiership defeats with a 33-3 victory over high-flying Exeter at Franklin's Gardens.

Saints came into the contest joint bottom of the table but had too much firepower for the Chiefs.

Fly-half Ryan Lamb was the star of the show for the hosts, as he created tries for centre James Downey and wing Paul Diggin, while kicking 16 points with two conversions and four penalties.

Wing Scott Armstrong rounded things off in the final moments with Northampton's third try.

Exeter, who had been third in the table coming into the game, could only register an Ignacio Mieres penalty as they consistently struggled at the breakdown against Saints' forward power.

Northampton opted to attack from deep from the kick-off and it paid dividends as they crossed for the opening try inside two minutes.

Centre Jon Clarke was freed down the left by Lamb's pass, before flanker James Craig took the move on for the ball to be worked right for Downey to slide over. Lamb added the extras for a 7-0 advantage.

More good work by Lamb opened space for Armstrong, although the former London Irish man was off target with a ninth-minute penalty effort.

Exeter hit back with two prolonged attacking phases, with centre Sireli Naqelevuki featuring prominently, and fly-half Mieres got them on the board when he slotted a penalty at the end of the first quarter.

Pressure

The Chiefs enjoyed more pressure in the Saints 22, but it was the hosts who were next to cross the line as enterprising link play between Armstrong and Greig Tonks paved the way for Diggin to dot down from Lamb's exquisite grubber, with the fly-half's conversion going over with the aid of the crossbar.

A long-range penalty then saw Lamb further extend the hosts' lead, and the visitors' predicament got worse when Luke Arscott was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on.

Lamb knocke dover a second penalty just before half-time after the Saints pack had given the Chiefs' front row a thorough work-over at a series of scrums.

More Exeter scrum woe allowed Lamb to register the first points of the second half with his third penalty of the contest in the 55th minute, strtetching the lead to 23-3.

The Chiefs' difficulty in combating Northampton's physicality at the breakdown saw them struggle to string threatening phases together despite having plenty of possession, while replacement Kevin Barrett spilled the ball to waste their best attacking chance.

Lamb went on to add his fourth penalty before Armstrong rounded things off by getting to Clarke's delicate kick through for a try converted by replacement Stephen Myler.