London Irish 20 - 26 Northampton: Saints march into play-offs

TWO tries from Chris Ashton and 16 points from Stephen Myler sealed an Aviva Premiership play-off spot for Saints.

Both sides missed kicks at goal before Bob Casey lost the ball in the Saints' 22 and Northampton swiftly counter attacked. A clever pass from Jon Clarke sent Ashton away to outpace the cover on a 50-metre run to the line. Myler converted.

After 27 minutes Tom Homer reduced the arrears with a penalty and soon added another from 30 metres.

Myler kicked a penalty for Saints before another long-range attempt from Homer rebounded back off a post. Myler kicked his second penalty to give the Saints a 13-6 interval lead.

In the second half a poor kick from Paul Hodgson saw Ashton pick up and kick ahead to gain the Saints a platform in the home 22. The Irish were penalised and Myler made no mistake to make it 16-6. On 58 minutes Irish were pressing deep in the Saints 22 when they lost possession at a ruck, leading to break finished off by Ashton. Myler converted.

With 14 minutes to go Irish suddenly brought the game alive with two converted tries in three minutes from Richard Thorpe and Seilala Mapusua, reducing the gap to three points. Back came Northampton and Myler kicked his fourth penalty before the Saints endured five minutes of Irish pressure to claim the win and end Irish's play-off hopes.