Exiles pay for careless errors

London Irish 12 Northampton 14

Northampton moved up to third in the Zurich Premiership table thanks to a gritty win over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.

The Saints have now won four league games out of six outings this season whilst a bonus point for the Exiles does little to move Conor O’Shea’s side away from the wrong end of the table.

But London Irish paid the price for careless errors early on with Northampton’s Paul Grayson notching up three easy penalties within the first eight minutes.

Exiles’ Barry Everitt put the home side back into the game with two penalties but it was Northampton who had the upper hand.

The Saints finally got their reward just before the break when Irish winger Justin Bishop was under pressure and had little choice but to put the ball in touch dangerously close to their goalline.

Grayson duly kicked the ball in touch to hand Northampton an important attacking line-out.

And the Saints made the most of it. Former Wallaby Mark Connors won the line-out before scrum-half Matt Dawson switched the run of play.

Grayson then executed a perfect lofty kick which landed in the clutches of winger Ben Cohen. The England international touched down to score for a 14-6 lead at the break.

But Northampton and the blustery conditions at Reading were not enough to put Everitt off his stride and the fly-half kept London Irish within reach with two further penalties.

And the home side kept the momentum going. The Exiles turned the tables on Northampton but unluckily their efforts were fruitless. Everitt missed a drop goal while referee Steve Leyson denied him another score.