Leicester Tigers 24 Northampton Saints 8: Tom Vickers' review and player ratings

And on Saturday evening, another unwanted chapter was added.

Saints missed several chances and were denied on several occasions by the officials as they tasted a 16-point defeat in Michael Cheika’s first East Midlands derby in charge of Tigers.

To be fair to Cheika and his team, they often defended with resilience and took their chances to strike when they came.

But this could have been a completely different story had the TMO not made two hugely debatable calls in the opening 20 minutes.

First, Sam Graham’s score was somehow ruled out for a knock-on, even though it appeared obvious that he got downward pressure on the ball over the line.

From the next passage of play following the restart, Graham suffered a serious knee injury that saw the Saints No.8 stretchered off in agony.

Soon after, Tommy Freeman beat his man and dotted down only for the try to be chalked off for a knock-on from George Furbank in the build-up.

And while that was right, what was wrong was that the TMO missed a knock-on from Freddie Steward that made the ball deviate from where Furbank expected to catch it.

These were huge decisions on a day full of them.

But on derby-day, this is nothing new.

Over the years, hard luck stories have blighted Saints on their trips up the M1.

They failed to win at Welford Road for 11 years before a long-awaited 2018 success sparked a few more successes.

But the status quo has now been restored and Tigers have won seven of the past 10 derbies, home and away.

Tigers are tough to beat on their home turf, and they are even tougher when it is Saints that they are facing.

They want it even more, and they show that with the fire in defence and the power in the set piece.

They bossed the scrum battle, preventing Saints from getting a platform in that area.

But there were still more than enough chances for Saints, who were beset by injuries in key positions, to prevail here.

Little less than a year earlier, Saints had predominantly been outplayed before the officials got a Henry Pollock knock-on call wrong, denying Freeman a try that could have breathed new life into the game.

But on this occasion, had the key calls gone Saints’ way, you felt they had enough to win this.

Tigers, who weren’t pretty but were pretty effective, reverted to their DNA and didn’t look too threatening with ball in hand.

But when they got into the Saints 22, they made their power game count. That was something Saints did not do as they fell into traps and were held up on too many occasions.

Five times the words ‘no try’ went up on the big screen. Dagger after dagger to Saints hearts.

And the loss of Graham added injury to insult.

Tigers fans were generous in their applause for Graham as he headed back to the bench but that was where the kindness ended as they delighted in Saints’ misery as Fin Smith missed a conversion with the final kick of the game.

You understand it. This is derby day and bragging rights are almost as precious as the points.

Saints walked away with nothing after pouring a huge amount of effort into the game.

And they won’t want to sit and reflect for long on another derby day that got away because they know the significance of Friday’s home game against Sale Sharks.

What kind of team they will be able to field is anyone’s guess as they had a laundry list of injuries before the trip to Tigers and then lost Graham and captain George Furbank during the match.

But whoever takes to the field against the Sharks will be desperate to avoid a repeat of this misery, especially with only one more league game (at in-form Bristol Bears) left before the international break. And a league game for which Saints will lose their England players to another problematic training camp.

It was fitting that the weather turned ahead of the final whistle on Saturday because when it rains it really does pour.

But top teams navigate the storm - and that is exactly what Saints will have to do this week.

How they rated…

GEORGE FURBANK - a tough day for the skipper as not much went his way and he was eventually forced off due to concussion… 5

JAMES RAMM - did his best to make some inroads and displayed some nice handling at times but couldn’t quite wriggle free on his many runs… 5.5

TOM LITCHFIELD - made his first appearance of the season after recovering from a calf injury and didn’t do much wrong… 5.5

RORY HUTCHINSON - has been in good form at the start of the season but Tigers gave him little time to really influence this match… 5.5

TOMMY FREEMAN - kept fighting until the end, eventually getting a try for his team with the final play of a frustrating game… 6

FIN SMITH - couldn’t really pull the strings as he normally would as Tigers were quick to shut down Saints’ creative sparks… 5

ARCHIE MCPARLAND - the young man deserves huge credit for how he handled the occasion here, bouncing back from a baptism of fire at Bristol in March to show much more composure on this occasion… 6

MANNY IYOGUN - a tough day up front for the Saints forwards as Tigers secured scrum dominance and won the power battle… 4.5

CURTIS LANGDON - tried to get Saints going, as he often does, but Tigers stood tall and he eventually ended up in the sin bin for an incident that almost injured him more than the player he was trying to tackle… 4.5

ELLIOT MILLAR MILLS - good for Saints to have this man back and he certainly thundered into collisions but it was a tough half at scrum time before he was replaced at the break… 4.5

TEMO MAYANAVANUA - Saints are happy to be able to start this man again but Tigers dealt with his power well… 5.5

CHUNYA MUNGA - earned his team an early breakdown penalty and worked his socks off but for little reward… 6

JOSH KEMENY - a disruptive influence at lineout time and did make an impact around the field here and there… 6

ANGUS SCOTT-YOUNG - couldn’t really get too involved in the game and came off during the second half… 5

SAM GRAHAM - should have been awarded a try before he suffered a horrible injury that left him in pain and needing to be stretched off. Was able to walk back to the Saints dugout on crutches later in the game.

Replacements (who played more than 20 minutes)

HENRY POLLOCK (for Graham 13) - a real positive for Saints as he charged around the field doing everything he could to get his team on the front foot… 6.5

ROBBIE SMITH (for Langdon 54) - was hungry for work as he tried to get his hands on the ball but couldn’t make too many inroads… 5

TOM WEST (for Iyogun 54) - tried his best to help Saints turn the tide and they certainly had plenty of possession late on without making it count… 5

TOM PEARSON (for Scott-Young 54) - a great player to be able to bring on as Saints missed him from the start but he saw yellow just after being denied a try, limiting his time and influence on the pitch… 5

CHRON STAR MAN - Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)