'Exactly what we wanted', says Pearson as he helps to propel Saints past Gloucester
Tom Pearson said 'that was exactly what we wanted' after Saints produced the perfect response to their defeat at Leicester by beating Gloucester 28-14 on Saturday evening.
The black, green and gold had failed to score a single point during a difficult second half at Tigers a week earlier, losing 28-7 in torrid conditions.
They were also held scoreless during the opening half an hour by a Gloucester team who had entered Gallagher PREM round five sitting top of the table.
But after going 14-0 down, Pearson's 35th-minute try, which saw him juggle a Curtis Langdon pass and dive over the line, sparked a Saints comeback.
They levelled things up on the stroke of half-time before delivering a huge performance during the second period, scoring another 14 unaswered points.
And Pearson, who was named player of the match, said: "That was exactly what we wanted because it was very disappointing last week (at Leicester). It's a big derby for us, we take a lot of pride in that fixture so the way it unfolded wasn't what we wanted at all.
"It was good to right the wrongs this week.
"Gloucester were top of the table for a reason and they're more than allowed to do good things as well so they brought it during the first 30 and then we just went up a level or two, sorted out our breakdown and managed to get the win.
"It was good to have a reaction like that.
"Our discipline last week was horrendous: a lot of penalties, a lot of unacceptable penalties we call them.
"It was better this week, we looked after the ball as well because the longer we look after the ball, the more points we can score. We let our outside backs run with it, which is what we love doing."
Saints have picked up 16 points from a possible 25 to start the season, winning home matches against Newcastle Red Bulls, Bath and Gloucester but losing away to Bristol Bears and Leicester.
"We've had some tough away days," Pearson said, reflecting on his side's first five PREM games.
"Our away form hasn't been great because we lost to Leicester away and had a tough day at Bristol as well. Those are two away games we historically do struggle with.
"But our home form has been good, we've ground out some results and it was good to top it off with a win against the team that was top of the league."