Leicester edge Saints

Editor

Freddie Burns kicked three penalties and a conversion to give Leicester a hard fought 19-11 win over Saints in the Premiership.

The Saints haven't won away to Leicester since February 2007, but a try apiece meant the boot of Freddie Burns was the difference between the two sides. 

Leicester's Adam Thompstone opened the scoring after 12 minutes, before Saints' Mike Haywood replied just five minutes later. Northampton lost Luther Burrell to the sin-bin after just two minutes, and Freddie Burns made them pay with a penalty before finding a looping pass to see Thompstone score a try in the corner, which the fly-half converted. 

Try-scorer Thompstone then saw yellow himself after clattering George North in the air, which Northampton capitalised on shortly after as hooker Haywood touched down at the bottom of a maul, halving the deficit. Stephen Myler slotted penalties either side of a three-pointer from Burns, seeing the hosts go in at the break with a 13-11 lead. 

The Tigers' came out kicking in the second half, boosted by the return of Manu Tuilagi from the bench, and went close on a number of occasions only to be stopped short by Northampton's defence. 

Leicester's second half dominance provided nothing but a 68th minute penalty from Burns, before a valiant defensive effort, kept the visitors at bay for the remainder of the match. 

With the clock in the red, centre Owen Williams slotted a 40 metre penalty to snatch a much-needed losing bonus point away from Jim Mallinder's side.

The scorers:

For Leicester:
Try: Thompstone
Con: Burns
Pens: Burns 3, Williams
Yellow Card: Thompstone

For Saints:
Try: Haywood
Pens: Myler 2
Yellow Card: Burrell

Leicester Tigers: 15 George Worth, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Tom Brady, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Greg Bateman, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Logovi'i Mulipola
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Lachlan McCaffrey, 20 Will Evans, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Manu Tuilagi, 23 JP Pietersen

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden (c), 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 JJ Hanrahan, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Tom Kessell, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Ben Nutley, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 James Craig, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller 
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Nic Groom, 22 George Pisi, 23 Ken Pisi

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce, Wayne Falla
TMO: Trevor Fisher