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henry sladeA last-gasp effort ignited wild celebration exeter Recorded their first success in eight years with a 30–24 win at the Stonex Stadium Saracens,
Chiefs displayed resilience to recover from 12-3 and 24-13 downs after a thrilling heavyweight clash between Gallagher Prem title rivals in north London.
Two tries from number eight Greg Fisilau in the final quarter gave them hope and regained the lead, but they still faced a challenge. Saracens A 24-phase attack before Slade attacked on the stroke of full time.
owen farrell A penalty attempt was attempted in the 75th minute that would have put the hosts ahead 27–25, but his kick went wide of the left post.
England center Slade impressed and his late effort put the icing on the cake, leading to redemption when he gifted Saracens an early touch down with a pass which was intercepted by Noah Caluori for the initial try.
On the other wing, Max Malins was the next to score when he was given an easy run after being peeled blindside from a line-out drive by Saracens, with Theo Dann providing the final pass.
Saracens threatened with another line-out drive, which eventually went wide where Caluori made contact.
In defiance of the 12-3 scoreline, exeter They were still giving it as good as they could get and only a yellow card shown to Tom Hooper for a dangerous clear out prevented them getting past the 26th minute mark.
The Chiefs performed brilliantly and revamped their attack with the help of some good kicking from Farrell.
Caluori produced a rare moment of airdropping under pressure from Campbell Riddle, completely missing a Harvey Skinner bomb and the ball bounced off the head of the Exeter wing and into his hands. One pass later and Stefan Varney is over.
Riddle was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on early in the second half, just as Saracens were about to score in the right corner and Hartley tried to find Caluori, resulting in a penalty try.
Saracens got an extra gear in the 56th minute with Malins and Tom Willis producing their most impressive attack of the game until Elliot Daly sent Caluori racing.
The potential that Exeter has shown this season was demonstrated when they counter-attacked with a powerful line-out drive that ended with Fisilau touching down.
And in the 69th minute they finished a third time with Slade’s beautiful pass finding Dafydd Jenkins down the left wing until Fisilou came on to provide extra pace, finishing with a charging number eight.
Farrell sent his penalty wide and once Saracens’ late lead was negated, Slade picked up the ball left by Ben Earl and sprinted home, while the Exeter team celebrated in the dugout.
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