Northampton Saints secured a 15-9 win in a closely-fought and scrappy match against London Irish in the Aviva Premiership this evening.
The champions made a strong start to the match as Ken Pisi ran the ball over midway through the first half to give the hosts a four-point lead at the break.
There were ugly scenes just before the break as Tom Court was sin-binned for stamping at Salesi Ma'afu, who was also shown a yellow card for a holding offence.
Both sides started slowly in the second half, but Sam Dickinson pounced for the Saints when it was back to 15-a-side, although Irish were soon back down to 14 as Tom Guest was sent to the sin bin.
Shane Geraghty tried to give the visitors some hope with a couple of late penalties closing the gap to three points, but Stephen Myler managed to put the victory beyond doubt.
The result keeps Northampton top in the table, while the Exiles remain 11th.
