Northampton Saints suffered a rare home defeat at the hands of Exeter Chiefs thanks to two tries from Thomas Waldrom this evening.
The Devon club made a perfect start when hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie touched down inside the opening two minutes. Gareth Steenson kicked the extras to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead, but Saints reduced the arrears thanks to two Stephen Myler penalties early in the opening period.
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Exeter, who haven't won on their five previous visits to Northampton, extended their lead when Waldrom barrelled through the home side's defence before crossing the whitewash.
The England number eight then scored his second try of the evening to give the Chiefs a 21-6 half-time lead.
Northampton responded well after the break as Tom Stephenson scored early in the second half, but Steenson slotted another penalty for the visitors.
Jamie Elliott then added another score with 12 minutes left to give the Saints hope of snatching a late victory and preserving their home league record, having failed to lose at the Gardens since March. However, the Chiefs were able to hold on to keep pace with the Aviva Premiership leaders.
Chris O'Keefe
