Northampton Wanderers grabbed five tries against the Leeds Carnegie A side last night, in a 36-7 victory that secured the visitors a place in the Guinness A League final.   Winger David Smith was the star for Northampton with three of his side's tries, whilst Danny Paul scored the only try for the hosts.
The Wanderers made a strong start despite playing against a strong wind and Will Harries and Damien Browne came close to scoring in the opening moments of the game, but Soane Tonga'uiha knocked on and the home side were able to clear the ball.   Barry Everitt had a chance of putting Northampton ahead with a penalty but his kick, which was largely effected by the winds, went wide.  David Smith though put the visitors ahead after 11 minutes, showing his electric pace as he broke clear and five minutes later he extended the lead with the second try.  Everitt added both conversions to give the Wanderers a 14-0 lead.
Leeds struggled against the conditions but they did score in the 21st minute when Danny Paul intercepted a loose pass and strolled between the posts for a try which was converted by fly half Richard Vasey.  Leeds were unable to build any momentum from this however as Northampton hit back almost immediately when Browne went over in the 25th minute and just five minutes later Leeds found themselves further behind when Will Harries scored a second. Everitt converted both for a 28-7 lead.  Leeds were then dealt a further blow when James Parkes was shown a yellow card on the stroke of half-time.  Despite being a man down Leeds were the stronger side in the third quarter, and were awarded a number of penalties which eventually led to Harries being sent to the sin bin.
A more determined Leeds defence in the second half was able to stop the visitors from enjoying the majority of possession as they had in the opening forty minutes but the hosts were unable to create any real attacking threat to be able to reduce the deficit and on the 61st minute Wanderers opened up a 24 point gap when Everitt successfully scored a penalty.  Smith then secured his hat trick with two minutes left to wrap up the win. Teams:
Leeds Carnegie - Goodridge; Rock, Vickerman, Burrell, Hughes; Vasey (Whittaker 61mins), Aspinall (White 61mins); Freer (Clarke 70mins), Parkes (Nilson 55mins), Hopcroft (Swainston 71mins), Denton, Bouza, Paul (Nilson 45-51mins; Boyde 55mins), Schusterman, Lock. Wanderers - Diggin; Hoyles, Harries, Myler (Peck 67mins), Smith; Everitt, Vass; Tonga'uiha (Cannon 48mins), Shields (Emms 48mins), Budgen, Browne (Vickers 52mins), Hoy, Gray (Tonga'uiha 74mins), Lewitt, Ward.