Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said his side made their win over Gloucester “feel like a loss”, while London Irish suffered a narrow-margin defeat to Leicester Tigers.
Last Updated: 25/02/23 10:47pm
Saracens’ Alex Lewington
Saracens extended their lead at the top of the Gallagher Premiership table as they beat 14-man Newcastle on Saturday.
Elsewhere Northampton fended off a late flurry from Gloucester to make it three straight wins, while London Irish were edged out by Leicester Tigers.
Saracens 29-23 Newcastle Falcons
An early red card for Newcastle’s Greg Peterson ruined any hopes of his side causing an upset as Saracens moved 12 points clear of Sale at the top of the Gallagher Premiership table after a 29-23 home win.
Tenth-placed Newcastle were level at 10-10 when Peterson was dismissed for a high tackle with the table-toppers taking advantage by scoring five tries but it was the visitors who emerged with the most credit thanks to a heroic second-half display.
Alex Lewington scored two of the home side’s tries, Eroni Mawi, Ivan van Zyl and Theo Dan the others with Alex Goode kicking two conversions.
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Philip van der Walt and Adam Radwan scored Newcastle’s tries with Brett Connon adding three penalties and two conversions to leave them just two points ahead of Bath at the bottom of the table.
Saracens’ director of rugby Mark McCall said: “It’s a valuable five points against a good Newcastle side but nobody is clapping their hands at the end of it.
“It was a good first half as we scored five good tries but I’m certainly disappointed at our second-half effort as we were very careless.
“It was a standard red card for me and although Newcastle grafted well it shouldn’t h …