Injury-hit Saints show incredible character to secure comeback success against Saracens

The black, green and gold had fallen 24-7 down in their final home game of the campaign, and they had lost Curtis Langdon, James Ramm, Temo Mayanavanua and Alex Coles to injury along the way.

But Saints kept the faith and kept flying forward, with Tarek Haffar popping up with two crucial tries from the bench, the second of which came in the final seconds to win it for the home side.

Saracens had appeared to have more to play for on the day as they are still chasing a Gallagher Premiership play-off place, but Saints didn't let up and eventually got their rewards.

However, the victory may have come at a cost, with the injury issues continuing to pile up for a Saints side who were already without 13 players before kick-off.

That didn't stop them from flying out of the blocks early on though as Fin Smith engineered a try for Josh Kemeny, who grabbed hold of the fly-half's grubber kick and stretched out an arm to score.

Smith added the extras and Saints had the lead, but Saracens were given a penalty for a high tackle from Trevor Davison, allowing them to set up camp in the home 22.

Eventually, Tom Willis forced his way over the line, but Fergus Burke missed the conversion to leave the black, green and gold two points up.

Saracens hadn't had much of the ball, but when they did get it, they were able to pose a threat.

And that was emphasised as they pieced together a tidy move that ended with Juan Martin Gonzalez gathering an excellent Elliot Daly pass on the right and diving over for the try.

Burke delivered a much more assured conversion on this occasion to put his side five points in front.

There was soon real concern for Saints as Langdon appeared to injure his shoulder while making a big hit on Ben Earl.

Langdon tried to continue but he was eventually replaced, with Craig Wright coming into the action.

Saints fans were now watching through their fingers as players continued to take knocks, with Ramm the next to spark concern.

With Ramm struggling to move, Saracens exposed Saints down the right, allowing Alex Goode to run in for his side's third score of the game.

Burke converted and it was 19-7, with Saints losing Ramm to injury as Tom Seabrook came on three minutes before the break.

Saracens continued to push on after the interval, scoring again four minutes into the second period as they produced a flowing move that saw Rotimi Segun use his speed to dive over in the corner.

Burke hit the post from the conversion and Saints thought they had scored soon after as Coles went diving in on the left.

But Coles was deemed not to have control in the process of grounding and boos rang out when the decision was announced.

Saints took Smith off with almost 25 minutes to go in a bid to protect their fly-half, while Manny Iyogun and Kemeny were also replaced at the same time.

The home side kept trying to play though and after some quick thinking from Alex Mitchell and Coles, Saints applied the pressure, sending Haffar over for a try.

Rory Hutchinson converted and Saints soon replaced Davison, Mayanavanua and Mitchell in their final set of changes.

Saracens were starting to sway a little and Seabrook couldn't quite gather a loose ball close to the away line after Ivan van Zyl had fumbled.

Saints were applying real pressure to their opponents, but Saracens just about managed to hold out and clear the danger.

Saracens were under siege and they were lucky to escape a penalty try when Fraser Dingwall was taken out in the air under a Rory Hutchinson crossfield kick.

However, the penalty try did come soon after as Saints kicked the penalty to the corner and produced a huge drive, forcing referee Luke Pearce to head under the sticks.

Pearce also awarded a yellow card, sending Andy Onyeama-Christie to the sin bin, but both teams would finish the match with 14 men as Coles had to limp off with a knee issue.

There was still six minutes left for Saints to find a way to win it from three points down, and they just kept believing.

With the clock ticking down, Saints mounted one final attack, with Dingwall and Tom Litchfield both offloading superbly before Haffar gathered and rounded the final man to score.

The referee added to the drama by checking the possibility of a couple of forward passes, but he stuck with his on-field decision of try and the Gardens erupted.

Hutchinson added the extras with the final kick of the match as Saints celebrated an impressive home success.

Saints: 15. James Ramm (Tom Seabrook 37); 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Fraser Dingwall (c), 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Tom Litchfield; 10. Fin Smith (Jake Garside 56), 9. Alex Mitchell (Jonny Weimann 60); 1. Emmanuel Iyogun (Tarek Haffar 56), 2. Curtis Langdon (Craig Wright 27), 3. Trevor Davison (Elliot Millar Mills 60): 4. Temo Mayanavanua (Ed Prowse 60), 5. Tom Lockett; 6. Alex Coles, 7. Josh Kemeny (Angus Scott-Young 56), 8. Henry Pollock.

Saracens: 15. Alex Goode; 14. Tobias Elliott, 13. Elliot Daly, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Rotimi Segun (Charlie Bracken 75); 10. Fergus Burke, 9. Ivan van Zyl; 1. Eroni Mawi (Phil Brantingham 52), 2. Jamie George (Theo Dan 52), 3. Marco Riccioni (Alec Clarey 65); 4. Maro Itoje (c), 5. Nick Isiekwe (Hugh Tizard 67); 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez (Theo McFarland 39), 7. Ben Earl, 8. Tom Willis (Andy Onyeama-Christie 60).

Referee: Luke Pearce