|
Harry Mallinder held his nerve to steal victory in the dying minutes against Exeter, Northamptons first home win of the Aviva Premiership season.It looked as though Exeter were going to cling on after Gareth Steenson kicked two penalties in each half to add to Olly Woodburns converted try, giving them a 19-14 lead.Northampton, who scored converted tries from George North and Rory Hutchinson in the first half, were held at bay after the break despite plenty of possession but the visitors eventually cracked under the pressure and Mallinder landed two penalties to send the Franklins Gardens crowd into delirium.Exeter started well with Ollie Devoto making immediate dents against 20-year-old inside centre Hutchinson, a late replacement for Stephen Myler with Mallinder moving to fly-half, and the pressure saw Steenson put the visitors 3-0 in front after five minutes.Four minutes later, sustained pressure from a lineout eventually saw quick ball moved to the right wing, with a lovely move involving Henry Slade freeing Woodburn to dive over in the corner. Steenson converted and added a simple penalty five minutes later to make it 13-0.Saints had an instant chance to reply with Louis Picamoles breaking clear, but Nic Groom dropped the pass and a certain try.But with Exeters lineout malfunctioning, an important turnover in the Chiefs 22 by Calum Clark, playing his first game in almost a year after surgery on a shoulder injury, saw Saints work the ball to North to power over from five metres.And from the restart North burst out of his 22 and his inside pass to Groom saw the scrum-half send Hutchinson over for a try on the Scotland Under-20 internationals debut. Mallinder converted both to put the home side 14-13 in front.Steenson missed a 35-metre penalty while Mallinder failed with an ambitious 40-metre drop-goal attempt, and Saints had the better of the rest of the half to go into the break one point ahead.In contrast, it was a quiet opening to the second half and it was not until 14 minutes in that Steenson put Exeter back in front with a penalty.Exeter brought on England winger Jack Nowell on 57 minutes for his first appearance of the season, and the first thing he did was watch the ball sail over his head thanks to a pinpoint kick from Mallinder.It signalled a sustained period of Saints possession in and around the Chiefs 22 but there was no penalty and at the crucial moment a pass would go astray.As soon as Exeter ventured into the home 22 they won another easy penalty for Steenson to extend the visitors lead to 19-14 but with 13 minutes to go Exeter were caught offside, allowing Mallinder to reduce the arrears.Mallinder, moved to inside centre with the introduction of Sam Olver at 10, and was roared on by the home crowd as he split the Exeter defence. The visitors held firm once again only to give away a penalty with three minutes to go. It was 15m in from the right touchline, not a favourable angle for the right-footed Mallinder, but the 20-year-old kept cool to slot the three points and make it 20-19.Ken Pisi then got the crucial turnover for Saints to play out time and register a much-needed victory. . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez will play his final game for the New York Yankees on Friday night and, as of now, the only thing hes planning for Saturday morning is a hangover.If I wake up on time tomorrow, I would watch tomorrows game, Rodriguez said in a news conference before the Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays. But I may have a couple of cocktails tonight, so I may not wake up by game time tomorrow. But Ill definitely watch Sundays game.Rodriguez is batting third in the Yankees lineup against Chris Archer, after which he will be unconditionally released by the club following 11-plus seasons, two American League MVP awards and one World Series title.Thereafter, he will be a free agent for the first time since the brief period in 2007, when he opted out of the 10-year, $252 million contract he signed with the Texas Rangers in 2001 that became the property of the Yankees when they traded for him before the 2004 season.Technically, he can be approached by -- and can sign with -- any of the 29 other clubs, who would be obligated to pay only a pro-rated portion of the major league minimum salary to acquire his services.Rodriguez was asked if a phone call from another team would be difficult to resist, especially since he sits just four home runs shy of 700, a plateau reached by just four other players in big league history.Well, unless its Hal [Steinbrenner], I probably wont be answering the phone for anyone, Rodriguez said. Im going to go and take a nap for a minute. I need some rest, kind of recover and reflect; spend some time with my two little ones. Its been a great run and an incredible journey. I never thought when I first entered Fenway Park as an 18-year-old that I would play for 10 years, forget 22 years. Im going to take some time for myself.After a surprising 2015 season in which he hit 33 home runs despite missing all of 2014 while on suspension for PED violations in connection with baseballs Biogenesis scandal, Rodriguez has struggled throughout 2016. He is hitting .199 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs in 64 games as a designated hitter. Rodriguez, in fact, struggled in the last two mon
|
