Northampton 20-19 Exeter: Harry Mallinder earns Saints late win
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 02/10/16 10:18pm
Harry Mallinder held his nerve to steal victory in the dying minutes against Exeter and give Northampton their first home win of the Aviva Premiership season.
It looked as though Exeter were going to cling on after Gareth Steenson kicked two penalties in each half to add to Olly Woodburn's converted try, giving them a 19-14 lead.
Northampton, who scored converted tries from George North and Rory Hutchinson in the first half, were held at bay after the break despite plenty of possession but the visitors eventually cracked under the pressure and Mallinder landed two penalties to send the Franklin's Gardens crowd into delirium.
Exeter started well with Ollie Devoto making immediate dents against 20-year-old inside centre Hutchinson, a late replacement for Stephen Myler with Mallinder moving to fly-half, and the pressure saw Steenson put the visitors 3-0 in front after five minutes.
Four minutes later, sustained pressure from a lineout eventually saw quick ball moved to the right wing, with a lovely move involving Henry Slade freeing Woodburn to dive over in the corner. Steenson converted and added a simple penalty five minutes later to make it 13-0.
Saints had an instant chance to reply with Louis Picamoles breaking clear, but Nic Groom dropped the pass and a certain try.
But with Exeter's lineout malfunctioning, an important turnover in the Chiefs' 22 by Calum Clark, playing his first game in almost a year after surgery on a shoulder injury, saw Saints work the ball to North to power over from five metres.
And from the restart North burst out of his 22 and his inside pass to Groom saw the scrum-half send Hutchinson over for a try on the Scotland Under-20 international's debut. Mallinder converted both to put the home side 14-13 in front.
Steenson missed a 35-metre penalty while Mallinder failed with an ambitious 40-metre drop-goal attempt, and Saints had the better of the rest of the half to go into the break one point ahead.
In contrast, it was a quiet opening to the second half and it was not until 14 minutes in that Steenson put Exeter back in front with a penalty.
Exeter brought on England winger Jack Nowell on 57 minutes for his first appearance of the season, and the first thing he did was watch the ball sail over his head thanks to a pinpoint kick from Mallinder.
It signalled a sustained period of Saints possession in and around the Chiefs' 22 but there was no penalty and at the crucial moment a pass would go astray.
As soon as Exeter ventured into the home 22 they won another easy penalty for Steenson to extend the visitors' lead to 19-14 but with 13 minutes to go Exeter were caught offside, allowing Mallinder to reduce the arrears.
Mallinder, moved to inside centre with the introduction of Sam Olver at 10, and was roared on by the home crowd as he split the Exeter defence. The visitors held firm once again only to give away a penalty with three minutes to go. It
was 15m in from the right touchline, not a favourable angle for the right-footed Mallinder, but the 20-year-old kept cool to slot the three points and make it 20-19.
Ken Pisi then got the crucial turnover for Saints to play out time and register a much-needed victory.
