Northampton (6) 13 Tries: Penalty Cons: Myler Pens: Lamb 2 London Irish (3) 14 Tries: Kennedy Pens: Homer 3
Exiles' win ends a five-match unbeaten run for Saints at home
A late Tom Homer penalty clinched a win for London Irish at Northampton.
A turgid first half saw two penalties from Ryan Lamb give Saints a slim lead with Homer responding for Irish.
Chris Hala'ufia brought the game to life when he cut through the middle of Northampton's defence, allowing Nick Kennedy to go over in the corner.
The Exiles' pack eventually conceded a penalty try after bringing down the scrum once too often but Homer stepped up to deny Saints.
POST-MATCH VIEWS
London Irish coach Toby Booth:
"It certainly wasn't the prettiest of games and we won playing ugly but I am delighted to get an away win in the Premiership.
"There is a real adrenaline injection from winning a game. The Premiership is unrelenting, it's like a juggernaut out of control but it was a fantastic victory."
Northampton coach Jim Mallinder told BBC Radio Northampton:
"There was some really good, positive play by us. We did some good things at times but not enough.
"In the first half, we lost too many balls. In the second half, we were attacking down the left-wing with too many forward passes and trying to force the wide pass.
"What you need is players playing to their best every week, and we have to get that out of our squad."
LINE-UPS
Northampton: Clarke, Diggin, May, Downey, Cato, Lamb, Roberts, A. Waller, Sharman, Mercey, Manoa, Day, Clark, Nutley, Dowson.
Replacements: Myler for Lamb (57), Doran-Jones for A. Waller (51), Mujati for Mercey (57), Craig for Manoa (65).
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