Spring is well and truly here and with it, the playoff race in the Gallagher Premiership is escalating.

Two teams, both involved in said race, met today at Sandy Park. Exeter Chiefs sat fourth in the table before this encounter, looking to strengthen their position with a third league win in a row. Top-of-the-league Northampton Saints looked to bounce back from their Euro Challenge Cup exit last week.

The home side started strongly, it took just 90 seconds for Olly Woodburn to break through the Saints Defence and find Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the right-wing. He had plenty of space to run into and score, subsequently converted to bring a 7-0 scoreline on the second minute.

Five minutes later, Chiefs scored again. They tapped a penalty on the five-meter line, allowing Will Rigg to power home from close range.

Exeter's’ 14-point lead was soon halved. Tidy play from Saints winger George Hendy found Tom Litchfield, who in turn found Alex Mitchell, setting him up to score.

On the stroke of half time, it was back to all square. A loopy pass from Fin Smith found Ollie Sleightholme on the left flank, who ran the ball in unchallenged.

Half time: Exeter Chiefs 14-14 Northampton Saints

Not the same rapid start to the second period as it was the first, but it was again the hosts who scored first. Will Haydon-Wood broke through well and found Campbell Ridl on the left to score.

However, a yellow card for Feyi-Waboso depleted Exeter, giving Saints an extra man advantage to exploit. Fin Smith chipped one over the Chiefs defence and George Furbank won the footrace to score and even things up at 21-21.

With just under ten minutes to go, Chiefs were down to 13, Campbell Ridl was sent to the sin bin. This was a huge bonus for Northampton who took full advantage. Henry Pollock bundled the ball over the line after receiving from Fraser Dingwall and Saints were up by seven points with seven minutes to go.

It didn’t look great for Exeter when Henry Slade missed a touch finder with 76 minutes on the clock, but Ollie Sleightholmes’ subsequent clearance was charged down by Paul Brown-Bampoe, who managed to recover the bouncing ball and level the game at 28-28.

But Chiefs' celebrations were short-lived. Fraser Dingwall managed to offload the ball to Fin Smith giving him 30 meters of the pitch to run into and score a last gasp winning try. Agony for Exeter Chiefs, ecstasy for Northampton.

Full Time: Exeter Chiefs 28-35 Northampton Saints.

What a game! Exeter Chiefs came out the wrong side of the result, but they certainly played their part in a cracking match for a neutral. Saints boost their hope of a home semi-final in the playoffs, whereas Chiefs will be looking over their shoulders at Bristol Bears.