STAND-IN goalkicker George Furbank landed the two late penalties which gave Northampton their second victory of the season – and plunged Exeter to their second defeat.
Furbank took over after James Grayson, who had kicked four from four, was replaced by Tommy Freeman with 16 minutes to go.
“There was a bit of risk in it,” admitted Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd. “We could have brought George off but we made a decision to move him to 10 and it was a bit of a master-stroke because the boy kept his cool at the end.
“If he had missed one or two of those goals it might have looked different.”
It was a great finish for Furbank who had started the match with a storming run out of defence before Exeter struck the early blows.
And it gave Northampton – the last team to win a Premiership match at Sandy Park back in February –a double success as they ended Exeter's sevenmatch home winning run.
But Boyd is certainly not getting carried away with a promising start to the new season.
“Our biggest problem isn't if we can play,” he added. “We know that on our day we can play but the question is can we play consistently? Time will tell.” The Chiefs, smarting from from their opening day defeat at Leicester last weekend, hit Northampton with two tries inside the opening seven minutes.
After David Ribbans was penalised for holding on in the tackle, Joe Simmonds found touch and, although the initial drive was held, Rus Tuima and Harry Williams both made hard yards before Don Armand went over.
Two minutes later Henry Slade kicked through, Josh Hodge hacked on and Jack Maunder touched down. With Simmonds converting twice, the Chiefs were 14-0 up.
But it took Northampton only 14 minutes to peg back the early lead and draw level as they cashed in on two Exeter defensive errors.
James Grayson created the first with a sidestep and break from halfway before hesitancy in the Chiefs defence enabled Alex Mitchell to collect the loose ball and cross for Northampton's opener.
Then Will Witty missed his tackle, handing Matt Proctor a clear route to the line and Grayson added his second conversion before kicking his side ahead with a 33rd-minute penalty.
Northampton were conceding a stream of penalties but a string of handling errors prevented Exeter from punishing their indiscretions.
Penalty number ten cost Northampton a yellow-card for hooker Sam Matavesi and their lead as Tuima drove in following a close-range tap penalty.
Simmonds stretched Exeter's lead to 24-17 with a penalty midway through the second half but his side lost their way in an errorridden match and paid the price for some sloppy pay which resulted in them conceding penalties.
Grayson reduced the lead to four points with his second before Furbank stepped up to the mark to land the final two blows and send Exeter's first Premiership crowd at Sandy Park since March 2020 home disappointed.
Exeter …………….24pts
Tries: Armand 5, J Maunder 7, Tuima 39
Conversions: J Simmonds 5, 7, 39
Penalties: J Simmonds 57
EXETER: Hodge 7; Cordero 5, Slade 7, Devoto 6 (Whitten 64, 6), O'Flaherty 6; J Simmonds 6, J Maunder 6 (Hidalgo-Clyne 56, 5); Hepburn 6 (B Moon 50, 6), Yeandle © 6 (Innard 56, 6), Williams 6 (Iosefa-Scott 63, 5), Witty 6 (McCauley 71), Lonsdale 6, Kirsten 6, Armand 7, Tuima 6 (Tshiunza 56, 5).
Not used: Skinner
Northampton ..26pts
Tries: Mitchell 13, Proctor 21
Conversions: Grayson 13, 21
Penalties: Grayson 33, 64; Furbank 70, 79
NORTHAMPTON: Furbank 8; Sleightholme 6, Proctor 6, Dingwall 6, Collins 7; Grayson 7 (Freeman 64, 6), Mitchell 7 (Lomani 72); Waller 6 (Autrerac 53, 6), Matavesi 6 (Fish 72), Painter 6 (Hill 55, 6), Ribbans 6, Ratuniyarawa 6 (A Moon 64, 6), Wood 6, Ludlam © 7, Harrison 6 (Fish 42-48, Augustus 52, 6).
Not used: Litchfield
REFEREE: Christophe Ridley
ATTENDANCE: 9,843
Star man: George Furbank – Northampton
