Saracens moved clear at the top of the Heineken Cup pool five with a 31-26 victory against the Ospreys at Wembley Stadium.
In front of a crowd of 41,036, tries from Rhys Gill, Ernst Joubert and Chris Wyles gave Saracens a hard earned victory.
The first half started with a flurry of points with three tries scored in the opening 15 minutes.
It was the home side who got on the scoreboard first. After stealing Ospreys lineout ball deep in the visitors 22, the forwards went through the phases from close range and Rhys Gill went over under the posts. Owen Farrell converted.
Dan Biggar and Farrell swapped penalties before the visitors drew level with a breakaway try. Tommy Bowe got a lucky bounce of the ball and he then released Ashley Beck who raced home from 40 metres. Biggar converted.
Five minutes later, Sarries scored their second. Winning a scrum on the Ospreys 22, a powerful shove from the Sarries front row allowed Ernst Joubert to pick up and run home, beating off two tacklers. Farrell earned the extra two points.
As the half wore one, Biggar reduced the lead with another penalty before Farrell struck another two three pointers with Ospreys captain Tom Smith in the sin bin for persistent offending.
Biggar kicked a penalty with the second half just two minutes old, but the home side extended their lead minutes later. A flowing backline move ended with a Schalk Brits flick pass out of the back of the hand to release Chris Wyles to score.
But the home side hit back on the hour with Farrell in the sin bin and working the overlap out wide, Beck crossed for his second. Biggar converted.
With ten minutes left on the clock, Farrell hit a penalty from in front of the posts to give the home side an eight point lead, but almost immediately Biggar struck a penalty of his own to make it a five point game once again but there were no more scores so Sarries held on for the win.
Match report from Saracens.com
In front of a crowd of 41,036, tries from Rhys Gill, Ernst Joubert and Chris Wyles gave Saracens a hard earned victory.
The first half started with a flurry of points with three tries scored in the opening 15 minutes.
It was the home side who got on the scoreboard first. After stealing Ospreys lineout ball deep in the visitors 22, the forwards went through the phases from close range and Rhys Gill went over under the posts. Owen Farrell converted.
Dan Biggar and Farrell swapped penalties before the visitors drew level with a breakaway try. Tommy Bowe got a lucky bounce of the ball and he then released Ashley Beck who raced home from 40 metres. Biggar converted.
Five minutes later, Sarries scored their second. Winning a scrum on the Ospreys 22, a powerful shove from the Sarries front row allowed Ernst Joubert to pick up and run home, beating off two tacklers. Farrell earned the extra two points.
As the half wore one, Biggar reduced the lead with another penalty before Farrell struck another two three pointers with Ospreys captain Tom Smith in the sin bin for persistent offending.
Biggar kicked a penalty with the second half just two minutes old, but the home side extended their lead minutes later. A flowing backline move ended with a Schalk Brits flick pass out of the back of the hand to release Chris Wyles to score.
But the home side hit back on the hour with Farrell in the sin bin and working the overlap out wide, Beck crossed for his second. Biggar converted.
With ten minutes left on the clock, Farrell hit a penalty from in front of the posts to give the home side an eight point lead, but almost immediately Biggar struck a penalty of his own to make it a five point game once again but there were no more scores so Sarries held on for the win.
Match report from Saracens.com