Saints make Warriors pay

In-form Northampton made it eight wins on the spin in all competitions with a clinical 26-6 victory over struggling Worcester at Sixways.

Tries from Chris Ashton, Ben Foden and Phil Dowson, all coming in the second half, helped shift Saints up to second in the Guinness Premiership.

Fly-half Stephen Myler kicked 11 points to help his side clinch back-to-back away victories in the top flight for the first time since the 2005/06 season.

All the Warriors, who have now won just once in their last 10 outings, managed in reply was a pair of first-half penalties from Willie Walker.

First-half dominance

Worcester's Boxing Day blues were of their own making, though, as they failed to turn their periods of dominance into anything more than two penalties.

For much of the first 40 minutes they were the side on the front foot, camping out in their opponents' territory but simply unable to find a way through.

While Northampton didn't threaten to cross the try-line too often either, they did turn possession into points to hold a slender 9-6 lead at the interval thanks to a trio of Myler penalties, the last of which followed a yellow card to Worcester lock Craig Gillies for killing the ball.

Even against 14 men the visitors were on the back foot, yet they tackled manfully - most notably flanker Courtney Lawes - to keep the Warriors at bay.

Walker rounded out the opening half with his second penalty but fluffed his lines soon after the break when gifted a chance to level proceedings.

The miss led to Worcester boss Mike Ruddock withdrawing his number 10 in favour of the fit-again Matthew Jones, whose first contribution to a match that had become scrappy since half-time was to miss a drop-goal attempt.

Thankfully Foden livened up proceedings with a moment of individual brilliance that led to Northampton's opening try on the hour mark.

Burst through

Picking up a loose ball around halfway, the full-back burst through the first line of defence and then perfectly timed his pass back on the inside to the red-hot Ashton, who galloped over for his eighth score in the league this season.

Foden then turned from provider to scorer to seal the victory for Saints, forcing his way over on the right to further his claims for England's No.15 shirt.

Worcester's frustration at being given a lesson on how to finish was borne out by Rico Gear's high tackle that led to him becoming the second home player to be sent to the sin-bin.

Northampton rubbed further salt in the Warriors' wounds by running in a third try from flanker Dowson and nearly grabbed a Christmas bonus at the death.

A period of concerted pressure seemed certain to result in a fourth score but sub Shane Geraghty opted to kick rather than keep the ball in hand, allowing Chris Latham to tidy things up and spare his side further punishment, though they have now failed to muster a try in their last three league outings at home.