Foden brilliance sees Saints home
Northampton Saints fullback Ben Foden produced two moments of individual brilliance to help his side record a welcome 26-6 Guinness Premiership win over Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Saturday.
England back Foden's moments of brilliance both came in the second half and with his team under the cosh against a determined Worcester side.
His first bit of excellence created a try for former rugby league ace Chris Ashton - his eighth of the season - at a crucial stage in the match (in the 62nd minute), whilst he followed up his slashing break by darting over for his own try to put the match beyond doubt in the 75th minute.
Tireless loose forward Phil Dowson crashed over in the 78th minute to put the icing on top for Northampton, who very nearly grabbed a four-try bonus point in the end, but the Men from Midlands would have been very pleased with the final scoreline.
The home side made life very uncomfortable for the Saints up front, hitting them hard in the contact area and disrupting any promising backline moves with some brave defence and at 9-6 in Northampton's favour, going into the final quarter, it was still anybody's match.
But then up stepped Foden; first punishing a stray Worcester clearance with an outstanding break, before putting Ashton under the sticks and then sniping over from close-range to suddenly put his side ahead by 21-6 - it was game set and match, despite Stephen Myler missing the second conversion.
Dowson's try was testament to his high work-rate throughout the 80 minutes at Sixways, but Saints will actually be kicking themselves for not keeping ball in hand in a frantic final few minutes when they could well have secured a four-try bonus point.
Worcester fullback Chris Latham was a shining light for his side, but, ultimately, their discipline - which saw them concede two yellow cards - cost them, whilst Northampton's finishing - thanks, mainly to Foden's brilliance - allowed them to pick up a crucial away win.
Northampton moved into second place on the Guinness Premiership with their eighth win of the 2009/10 season, but they can still be overtaken by London Irish who play host to Saracens at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.
The Warriors, meanwhile, remain in 10th position on the Premiership table and will no doubt be following Sunday's results with a keen eye - especially with Bath just five points behind them in 11th position and Leeds Carnegie bringing up the rear with nine points.
The scorers:
For the Warriors:
Pens: Walker 2
For the Saints:
Tries: Ashton, Foden, Dowson
Con: Myler
Pens: Myler 3
Yellow cards: Craig Gillies (Worcester Warriors, 22 minutes); Rico Gear (Worcester Warriors, 78 minutes).
The teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Pat Sanderson (captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Olivier Sourgens, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 James Collins, 21 Ryan Powell, 22 Matthew Jones, 23 Dale Rasmussen.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Jon Vickers, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Christian Day, 20 Neil Best, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Chris Mayor.
Referee: Chris White
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Paul Dix
Television match official: Andrew Turner