Saints boss Dowson: 'If you leave points out there, you're going to get burned'
Saints boss Phil Dowson was left to rue a lack of ruthlessness after Saints suffered a 29-14 loss at Harlequins on Saturday.
The black, green and gold were 14-12 up at the break thanks to tries from Tom Pearson and Toby Thame.
But they were unable to score a single point after half-time and Harlequins eventually made them pay.
It means Saints have now suffered two PREM Rugby Cup defeats to start the season as they shipped 77 second-half points in a 96-42 loss at Saracens last weekend.
And Dowson said: “The overriding feeling would be frustration because I think we did loads of good stuff, gave ourselves loads of good opportunities but didn't convert them.
"In the first half, we had some chances where we didn't put points on the board, and there were two clear opportunities in the second half, one where we knock it on and another where we get held up.
"Those are small margins and if you leave points out there you're going to get burned.
"We were chasing the game a little bit at the end and the score's probably not really a reflection of where we're at.
"It could have been (a different game), but that's how it works, particularly away from home, so we've got to make sure we take those lessons onboard, eat that disappointment very quickly and get onto the next thing.”
Saints have blooded plenty of youngsters in the opening two matches of the campaign.
And Dowson feels they will have learned a lot from their cup endeavours so far.
He said: "I see tons of progress in a young playing group who are desperate (to do well).
"I see tons of progress around what we're trying to get into for this season.
"I am frustrated because we don't like conceding and we don't like losing.
"The people who take it the worst are the playing group so we've got to make sure we pick them up, take what we can out of it and we push on.”