Northampton Saints have won their first Aviva Premiership title with a dramatic 24-20 victory after extra time against Saracens at Twickenham Stadium.
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The triumph has seen the Saints clinch a memorable double following their recent win over Bath in the Amlin Challenge Cup final.
Sarries made the early breakthrough as two Owen Farrell penalties put them 6-0 ahead inside the opening 17 minutes.
However, the Saints struck back on 30 minutes as Ben Foden's try was converted by Stephen Myler to give them a 9-7 lead at half time.
The cagey contest swung back the way of Saracens soon after the restart thanks to another Farrell penalty, but Northampton got themselves in front yet again on 58 minutes when Myler added the extras to George Pisi's score.
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Saracens thought that they had levelled things up moments later with a try from Farrell, but it was ruled out following a forward pass in the build-up.
With just five minutes of normal time remaining, they managed to square the match as Marcelo Bosch went over. Charlie Hodgson could have given Sarries the lead with a successful conversion, but he could only put his effort wide of the target to send the match into extra time.
Myler's first penalty of the afternoon edged Northampton in front at the start of extra time before two Hodgson penalties looked to have won it for Saracens.
Northampton pushed hard for a winning score in the dying moments, and they were rewarded when Alex Waller's try was given following some deliberation from the video judges. Myler then kicked over the conversion to seal a famous victory for Northampton.
Jack Prescott
