Leicester's Ed Slater takes some stopping at Sandy Park
© PA Photos

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Matches: Exeter Chiefs 9 - 21 Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers climbed back into the Aviva Premiership top three with a dominant 21-9 victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.

The home side found themselves with a mountain to climb after tries from scrum-half Ben Youngs and centre Niki Goneva plus a penalty and conversion from fly-half Toby Flood put Leicester 15-0 up at the break. Home fly-half Gareth Steenson landed three penalties after the break to reduce the arrears to just six points but Flood left the Chiefs without even a losing bonus point for their efforts as he booted two more penalties to seal victory.

The Leicester pack were the key element in the match. They tortured the Chiefs for the whole game in the scrum and secured countless penalties, some at crucial times as Exeter threatened to get a try which would have thrown the game right into the melting pot.

Video official Trevor Fisher was called into action within four minutes of kick-off when Flood chipped over the home defence inside the 22 only for fullback Niall Morris to fluff a certain try with a knock-on over the line.

Leicester should have been even further in front at the break than 15-0 as Flood was guilty of missing a relatively easy penalty from 30 metres and also the conversion of Youngs' well-worked try as hooker Tom Youngs fed him from a rolling maul down the Exeter right.

Flood eventually made up for his errors with a straightforward penalty but that was it until moments before the interval as Exeter eventually came out of reverse gear and found something to threaten the Tigers. But they could not take the chances they created, one excellent attacking line-out saw Louis Deacon pull out a brilliant catch to steal possession.

The nearest that Exeter got to any score in the first period was a long-range penalty from Steenson which drifted side the right post. Exeter made things even tougher for themselves with some weak passing when they had some possession and that eventually led to another big blow when centre Jason Shoemark threw a wild pass on halfway which Goneva intercepted and he raced to the line, with Flood booting the conversion.

Exeter had to be more precise if they were to gain anything from the match and Baxter's half-time words seemed to have worked initially when Steenson found his range to boot a penalty and the Chiefs hit back.

They pressed again near the Leicester line and won another penalty directly in front of the posts, a simple three points for Steenson. He added a third on the hour from close range and suddenly Exeter, who lost last season's corresponding clash 12-9, were back in it.

Flood increased the Leicester lead to nine points again with his second penalty but Exeter, with nothing to lose, began running the ball and threatened to score only for their hands to let them down.

That only meant that England prop Dan Cole and the rest of his dominant Tigers front five simply shoved the Chiefs' eight into the ground, which produced penalties that Flood cleared downfield. And when Exeter illegally went over the top of a ruck with six minutes left, Flood landed another penalty which settled the contest.

Leicester attack coach Paul Burke was quick to praise his side's performance. "It was an outstanding effort from our players because Exeter really came at us in the second half. They threw everything at us and not to concede a try today at Sandy Park was good. We felt that if we tied Exeter up at the start, got momentum and quietened the crowd down, we would get a foothold in the game. You play in the right areas, get field position, keep hold of the ball and recycle, you will get your rewards.

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter was far from happy with his side's first half showing. "That is as disappointing with our showing in the first half that I can ever remember in the Premiership. I don't mind the wins and the losses as such. You deal with those as they are going to happen. But you have always got to fire some shots and give yourself a chance. I said to the guys at half-time that, if I was a supporter watching that, I would think we were afraid.

"When I say that, I don't mean afraid of the physical contest, I mean afraid to put ourselves out there and go for it. We showed in the second half how effective that can be, even against Leicester. The fact is we are sat here now disappointed not to have scored two or three tries with the pressure we had on their line. We have won the second half 9-6 and made it a real contest, but we have got what we deserved because of our first-half showing. You can't run away from that and I have told the guys that, at this stage, if it does not feel nice and exciting to be playing someone like Leicester, then we have got something wrong."

Exeter's Jack Yeandle looks to force an opening in the Tigers' defence © PA Photos

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