Leicester Tigers 17 Northampton Saints 13

Leicester took a chance by resting several front line players including Martin Johnson and Austin Healey in readiness for the Heineken Cup Final and were mightily relieved to scrape home against their old rivals and stay on course to add the Zurich Championship to the Premiership.

It was mighty close and the result could have gone the other way if Grayson had not missed a fairly simple kick and been given another that quite clearly went over.

That was not referee, Ed Morrison's fault but he had a poor game and Northampton can feel justifiably aggrieved with many of his decisions.

This was his last match in England before retiring and it was a sad way to sign off. He has been a tremendous servant to the game but this was definitely not one of his better days.

Nevertheless, Northampton must know in their heart of hearts that they have only themselves to blame. They dominated up front for long periods but made far too many mistakes at the all-important moments when the line was beckoning.

It was farewell for Tim Rodber and Allan Bateman. Both have played magnificently in recent weeks but neither will have enjoyed their conmtributions to this game.

In the end ity was Leicester's much vaunted defence and an explosive contribution from winger, Steve Booth, who had started just three times previously this season, that made the difference.

If Northampton were to stand a chance they had to get off to a better start than last week when they conceded two tries to Saracens before getting into their stride.

With first use of a lively wind they immediately took the game to Leicester and should have taken the lead but Grayson dragged his kick wide when the Tigers were penalised for dragging down the maul.

A clever cross-field kick from Grayson looked perfect for Cohen to run on to but the big winger hesitated and the chance was gone. Moments later they repeated the move and this time he took the ball in full stride and was bundled into touch only inches short.

At last, after 15 minutes of pressure Grayson landed a penalty for not releasing in the tackle but Leicester streuck back immediately with a well worked set piece try.

From a scrum on the 22 Andy Goode disguised his inside pass beautifully and Pat Howard timed his run perfectly to score under the posts. Tim Stimpson's conversion was a formality.

Grayson reduced the arrears with a penalty after Neil Back tried to put one over on Matt Dawson at the tackle but was denied a perfectly good kick which would have regained the lead when yet again two of England's top referees, Steve Lander and Tony Spreadbury, inexplicably ruled it was wide - everybody in the press-box, absolutely in line with the kick, agreed it was two feet inside the upright.

Then, just before half-time against the run of play, Leicester struck again. There appeared no danger when when Allan Bateman bounced off Stimpson on the Tigers' 10 metre line but the full-back slipped the ball to Steve Booth and the little winger was away. He beat Nick Beal comprehensively with a side-step and then outpaced the chasing Cohen to the corner.

Stimpson's touchline conversion gave Leicester a 14-3 lead when they could easily have been trailing.
The Saints needed a try and they got it five minutes after the restart. After a thrust down the left the ball went right and Rodber found John Leslie in space. He beat one man and fed Luca Martin who turned the tables on Booth, stepping inside him and sprinting to the line. Grayson's conversion reduced the gap to one point.

Bateman's Northampton career ended on a sad note when he limped off just before the hour with a sprained ankle and the balance swung back Leicester's way when Stimpson landed a penalty from all of 55 metres a couple of minutes later.
With the game growing more heated by the minute on came Pat Lam for his farewell appearance and Leicester immediately ordered Martin Johnson off the bench.

Stimpson was narrowly wide with another monster penalty attempt, Booth dropped what might well have been a scoring pass. Back came Northampton with one last sweeping attack but Beal's pass to Cohen was far too early and Leicester held on. The gamble had paid off.