Saints' double delight as rivals slip up
It was double delight for Jim Mallinder as Saints opened up a six-point gap over third-placed Saracens at Edgeley Park on Sunday.
Despite missing a hatful of chances and Stephen Myler missing four simple penalties Saints powered to a 15-7 win at Sale.
And with this weekend's LV= Cup semi-final opponents Saracens losing at strugglers Leeds, Saints opened up clear daylight as they look to secure a top-two finish and a home Guinness Premiership play-off.
Wingers Paul Diggin and Chris Ashton scored Saints' tries, with Ashton making it 12 Premiership tries for the season.
Sitting second is far beyond what most Saints fans were expecting at the start of the season, and Mallinder said: "We are delighted to be where we are. We were disappointed when we went down to Harlequins and we have bounced back.
"It was a good win against Leicester last week and now to back that up with a good away win at Sale is important. Saracens have lost as well, which creates a little bit more space, which is even more pleasing."
Saints are now nine points clear of fifth-placed London Irish as they stay on course for an unprecedented treble.
Mallinder's men dominated the first half and should have been out of sight at half-time instead of being just 7-0 in front.
It left Mallinder worried, but other than Saints' finishing he felt it was a solid display.
"Until the final whistle goes you are always concerned you are not going to get the win," said Mallinder. "We didn't take all our chances, we took two good ones, but we also had a lot of line breaks in that first half and opportunities to kick goals, which we didn't take.
"But I felt it was a good all-round performance, our set-piece was good, it was tidy.
"We took our opportunities really well for the two tries, we defended well, with good discipline and didn't give away too many penalties."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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