Saints march past Bourgoin to win Challenge Cup
Northampton's trophy win comes after gaining promotion back into the Guiness Premiership
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Friday, 22, May 2009 11:45
Northampton have qualified for next season's Heineken Cup after clinching the Challenge Cup with a 15-3 win over Bourgoin.
The Saints relied on the kicking skills of Stephen Myler, who scored all of their points to cancel out a solitary penalty for Bourgoin's Stephen Barra.
Wasps will miss out on the Heineken Cup at the expense of Northampton, who - in their first season back in the Guinness Premiership - have won silverwear.
The Saints started brightly but proved unable to open the scoring as Bougoin defended stubbornly.
However, an excellent period of possession finally led to a penalty, which Myler duly converted in the tenth minute to set Northampton on their way.
Bourgoin were then almost gifted the lead when Coenraad Basson charged down the fly-half's attempted clearance from under his own posts.
No scores emerged, but the end-to-end play ensured an exciting and at times ill-disciplined battle.
Lee Dickson and Stephen Parra came to blows on two occasions, before the Bourgoin scrum-half and Neil Best both received yellow cards for trading blows after a ruck broke down.
The frustration was building after close opportunities for both sides. Winger Paul Diggin almost went over in the corner after good play from the Northampton back line.
Bourloin hit back, but Bruce Reihana's last-gasp tackle denied Jean-Francois Coux from scoring after good play from Yann Coux.
Meanwhile, Mylan added two penalties and after reaching a 9-3 half-time lead at the interval, the Saints' domineering periods of possession continued to bring results for the fly-half.
Two more penalties - amid two missed drop goal attempts - saw Northampton extend their lead as Bourgoin struggled to get out of their own half.
The closing stages saw tempers boil, with a strong Courtney Lawes tackle forcing French international Parra out of the match through injury.
Replacement Thomas Genevois then saw red for striking Lawes after coming on as a replacement.
Despite the ill-discipline, Saints' dominance enabled them to close out the match 15-3. Boss Jim Mallinder will now be able to concentrate on efforts to win more European silverwear - in next season's Heineken Cup.