Northampton continued their impressive streak of form and could still turn out
to be the surprise package by the end of the season.
Even without scrum-half Matt Dawson and despite losing Paul Grayson after half
an hour, the Saints dominated the game and it was only tough defence by Leeds
that kept the margin of defeat from being greater.
It took them 28 minutes to cross Leeds' line through Darren Fox but after the
interval they made their superiority pay and tries from Nick Beal and Ben Cohen
(two) put them out of sight.
With the sun on their backs both sides ran the ball from the first whistle
with the Saints looking likely to make an early breakthrough.
Instead the opening score went to Leeds, scrum-half Alan Dickens intercepting
an inside pass and sprinting 65 metres to touch down.
Paul Grayson put Saints on the board with a 13th-minute penalty and for the
next 25 minutes they battled to find a way through a stubborn Tykes defence.
They dominated the line-outs with Matt Lord towering above everyone, and were
far more powerful at the set scrums where they were constantly able to disrupt
Leeds' ball.
Saints thought they had broken through when John Clarke touched down after
gathering Grayson's chip ahead but the referee had spotted Tristan Davies take
out the kicker and controversially called the game back for the penalty.
Davies was sin-binned and from the resulting pressure the Northampton pack
forced a series of penalties and line-outs and finally Fox burrowed over from
close range.
Grayson missed the conversion and Leeds took full advantage when Gordon Ross,
who minutes earlier saw a penalty come back off the bar, landed a good kick to
give the Tykes a 10-8 advantage.
Northampton continued to dominate and it took a crunching tackle by Tom Palmer
under his own posts to deny them a score before the break.
But it was only delaying the inevitable and good handling early in the second
saw the Saints switch play twice before Beal dashed through a gap to score under
the posts.
Grayson's deputy, Shane Drahm, slotted home the conversion and a pair of
penalties shortly afterwards, the second from half way, put Northampton 11
points clear.
They extended that lead 15 minutes from time when Cohen palmed down a chip
ahead, Andy Vilk caught it and fed the England centre for a stroll in score.
Leeds were by now well beaten but they did put down a marker for the future
when 17-year-old David Doherty came off the bench to become their youngest
Zurich Premiership player.
Ross almost grabbed a consolation for Leeds but was unable to ground the ball
but a spell of sustained pressure was finally rewarded when David Rees touched
down.
But the Saints had the last word, Drahm's pinpoint kick gathered comfortably
by Cohen to round of a satisfying afternoon for the midlanders.
Teams:
Leeds: Cardey, Rees, Christophers, Davies, Scarbrough, Ross,
Dickens, Kerr, Rawlinson, Holt, Murphy, Palmer, Rigney,
Persico, Popham.
Replacements: Hodge for Christophers (45),
Doherty for Scarbrough (65), Regan for Rawlinson (46),
Cusack for Holt (23), Hyde for Persico (46).
Not Used: Morgan, Stuart-Smith.
Tries: Dickens, Rees.
Cons: Ross.
Pens: Ross.
Northampton: Reihana, Beal, Cohen, Leslie, Clarke, Grayson,
Robinson, Smith, Thompson, Taumepeau, Lord, Connors, Blowers,
Fox, Seely.
Replacements: Vilk for Reihana (14), Drahm for Grayson (38),
Howard for Robinson (80), Richmond for Thompson (74),
Morris for Taumepeau (45), Phillips for Lord (74),
Soden for Seely (74).
Tries: Fox, Beal, Cohen 2.
Cons: Drahm.
Pens: Grayson, Drahm 2.
Att: 4,359
Ref: Steve Lander (RFU).
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