Saints edge past Tigers

An uncharacteristic off-day by goalkicker Stephen Myler, who had a terrible first half with the boot, made the task more difficult for Saints than it should have been.

But they were good value for their win as they repelled a fightback by Tigers whose points all came from England fly-half Toby Flood, who added a second-half try and conversion to his two first-half penalties.

The first try came in the 12th minute when Northampton won a lineout on the left. They moved the ball through several pairs of hands before full-back Foden burst into the line to provide the final pass which sent Diggin diving over near the right touchline.

Ten minutes later and with Saints putting Leicester's defence under enormous pressure, the winger then grabbed his third Premiership try of 2009, popping up in the middle of the attacking line to take a short pass from Myler and breach the defensive line.

Myler drew a blank in the first half, squandering a possible 16 points as he failed with three penalties and both conversion attempts as well as falling short with a drop kick which was well within his normal range.

Flood, who had missed an early 40-metre penalty, made kicks from close range in the 26th and 35th minutes after Northampton were penalised for ruck offences in front of their own posts.

Northampton continued to attack with flair and ambition and Foden, the full-back who prefers to play at scrum-half, produced a brilliant stop-go dummy to split Leicester wide open as he burst through to touch down behind the posts and present Myler with the simplest of confidence-restoring conversions to put the home side 17-6 ahead.

Their arrival seemed to revive the Tigers who got right back in the game and cut the deficit to four points after scrum-half Julien Dupuy took a quick tap penalty to send Flood in for their first try.