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Exeter seal second league win of the season against 14-man Saracens
By PA
Exeter picked up only their second Gallagher Premiership win of the season with a come-from-behind triumph against old adversaries Saracens.
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The Londoners were well down on strength due to injuries and international call-ups, but Exeter had several players of their own missing and will have been delighted with this morale-boosting triumph to pull them further away from the bottom of the table.
The defeat saw Saracens, who lost lock Harry Wilson to a red card eight minutes from time, miss the chance to climb back into the top two in the division behind Bath.
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Exeter made a poor start to the contest, gifting an early penalty to Saracens which was slotted by Alex Lozowski.
The visitors did their cause no help when Argentinian international back-rower Juan Martin Gonzalez was sin binned two minutes later for a horrendous-looking tip tackle on Jacques Vermeulen that left the South African flanker needing treatment.
Chiefs immediately capitalised with their extra man with a catch-and-drive try from hooker Jack Innard after they kicked a penalty to the corner.
Saracens edged back in front in the 27th minute when a break inside Exeter’s 22 by lock Hugh Tizard created the space for them to spin the ball wide and send wing Toby Elliott over in the corner for his fifth Premiership try of the season.
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Gonzalez had a touchdown ruled out on the half-hour for a knock-on in the build-up, but there was little else to excite the crowd in the latter stages of a pretty poor quality, error-ridden opening 40 minutes.
The Chiefs, who had been looking nervy and short on confidence, finally showed enough composure to get their second try when a halted catch-and-drive created the opportunity for Will Rigg to grab a well-deserved try, with replacement fly-half Harvey Skinner’s conversion hitting the upright.
The home lead was shortlived though as young Chiefs wing Ben Hammersley failed to deal with a cross-field kick and Elliott accepted the gift to grab his second try of the game.
However, the Chiefs stunned Sarries with two tries in quick succession through impressive full-back Tom Wyatt and back-rower Ethan Roots to secure the bonus-point, with Skinner converting both to establish a 24-15 advantage.
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Saracens’ hopes of a fightback were dealt a major blow eight minutes from time when lock Harry Wilson was sent off for a shoulder to the head of replacement Rusi Tuima in the tackle.
Exeter sealed the victory two minutes later when the Chiefs powered hooker Dan Frost over for a fifth try as the confidence came flooding back, with Skinner making it a full seven-pointer.
With four minutes remaining, Exeter scrum-half Stu Townsend – playing his 100th game for the Chiefs – left the pitch to a standing ovation and also picked up the player of the match award.
Sarries made the most of a late yellow card for Franco Molina with a try by Fijian prop Eroni Mawi, but it was nothing more than a consolation.
