A last-minute try by England fly-half Fin Smith snatched victory for Northampton Saints over Exeter Chiefs in a thrilling encounter at Sandy Park.
The reverse fixture on the opening day of the season finished 33-33 and this game looked to be heading for another draw when replacement winger Paul Brown-Bampoe scored a charge down try in the 78th minute, converted by Henry Slade.
But Saints were not to be denied and a beautiful dummy by Smith saw him coast over the line to break Chiefs’ hearts and secure a 35-28 win for the Premiership leaders
Exeter got off to a dream start with a try after only 82 seconds from England flyer Immanuel Feyi-Waboso after an initial incision by fellow winger Campbell Ridl helped create a two-on-one overlap.
Slade converted, and then added the extras to a second try five minutes later from centre Will Rigg when he finished off a five-metre tap penalty move to make it 14-0 in a Saints-like start for the hosts.
Try-saving tackles by Stephen Varney and Ridl denied Saints duo Josh Kemeny and Ollie Sleightholme touchdowns respectively in the space of five minutes.
Northampton, however, could not be denied a foothold in the game for long and a beautifully-crafted try was created by George Hendy and Tom Litchfield and finished by England scrum-half Alex Mitchell, who was conducting proceedings so well for Saints.
Exeter suffered a blow in the 26th minute when they lost stalwart hooker Jack Yeandle to a leg injury.
One area of the Chiefs’ team not performing so well in the first half was the scrum, and a set piece penalty for Saints saw an eventual walk-in score from winger Sleightholme, with Smith smacking over a fine touchline conversion with the last kick of the half to make it 14-14 at the break.
The third quarter was a very cagey affair, with both defences holding firm, until Chiefs got their noses back in front just before the hour mark with a fifth Premiership try of the season for Ridl, with Slade executing the touchline conversion with aplomb.
Feyi-Waboso did his side no favours when he was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on.
And straight from the penalty kicked to touch, Smith’s delicate little chip over the Chiefs’ defence created a foot race for the line which was won by Harlequins-bound full-back George Furbank, with Smith converting for 21-21 with 15 minutes remaining.
Saints thought they had got their bonus point try moments later but Kemeny’s score was ruled out for an earlier knock-on.
Exeter went down to 13 men in the 73rd minute when Ridl stopped a possible try with illegal work at the breakdown, and from the tap penalty, space was created for replacement Henry Pollock to collect Saints’ bonus-point touchdown, with Smith converting.
Time was fast running out for the Chiefs and when Slade missed a penalty kicked to to corner, it looked like Exeter had blown their chance, but the clearance kick was charged down by Brown-Bampoe, who beat Furbank to the ball, and Slade converted magnificently to level the scores once more.
Saints were not satisfied with a draw though, and a break by Dingwall set up Smith, leaving Exeter to console themselves with two bonus points to leave them four ahead of Bristol in the final play-off place.
