Ben Foden came to the fore in the latter stages as Northampton came from behind to grab victory © PA Photos

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Match Pack: Saints comeback halts Cardiff

Matches: Cardiff Blues 19 - 23 Northampton Saints

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Cardiff Blues | England | Northampton Saints | Wales

Cardiff Blues head coach Dai Young resisted the temptation to lash out at the officials after his side suffered a controversial 23-19 defeat at the hands of Northampton Saints on Sunday afternoon.

The Welsh outfit lost star No.8 Xavier Rush to a red card for a dangerous tackle on Courtney Lawes eight minutes into the second half of the game before then seeing the Television Match Official award the Saints a game-clinching try late on even though Calum Clark did not appear to have grounded the ball over the whitewash. The home fans were incensed by both decisions but Young was remaining tight-lipped after the game.

"They were certainly talking points in the tunnel," the Blues boss said. "But the referee (Jerome Garces) has made his decisions and there's no point in me saying anything."

Indeed, Young admitted that his side had effectively paid the price for failing to rack up more points during an opening 40 minutes which they dominated.

"We had enough opportunities in the first half to get the scoreboard ticking and didn't take them," said Young.

"We scored our try early in the second period, but then had a yellow card (Bradley Davies) and the sending-off and the whole game changed.

"We've got two tough matches left and probably need to win both to get into the Amlin Cup, so that's what we'll be trying to do."

Meanwhile, Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder was understandably overjoyed of the character and composure his side had displayed in racking up their fourth straight win in Pool 1.

"Last year we lost at Munster and Perpignan and this showed we've learned how to win those big games," Mallinder said.

"It was very physical, quite confrontational at times, as we expected. In the first half we came under severe pressure and were quite fortunate to go in level at the interval.

"But I was very pleased with the way we came out for the second half and our pack got on top, which made the difference.

"You always want more. In the first half we didn't look after the ball well and our kicking game was poor. In the second half we kicked better, they had to kick back and allowed our back three to come into things, with Ben Foden showing up well.

"Now it's a matter of seeing the pool out and hopefully getting a home draw in the quarter-finals."