European Champions Cup: Northampton beat Ospreys 20-9 at Liberty Stadium

George North: Scored one of Northampton's two tries

Northampton set up a Pool Five decider with Racing Metro next weekend with a powerful 20-9 win against Ospreys on Sunday.

The win not only ended the Ospreys' European ambitions but also their unbeaten home record at the Liberty Stadium this season.

Post-match analysis of this game will not be easy viewing for the Ospreys, who made too many mistakes and failed to capitalise on their chances. Northampton on the other hand took theirs with both hands as Calum Clark and George North scored tries off their hosts' errors.

Fly-half Stephen Myler converted both scores and kicked two penalties to set up next Saturday's group decider against French challengers Racing Metro at Franklin's Gardens.

Victory over the Parisians will not only guarantee that English champions Saints go marching on, it would also ensure home advantage in the last eight.

It was a promising start for the home side, who went ahead early on through a Dan Biggar penalty, which came after flanker Justin Tipuric made a strong break in the midfield.

But they were under immense pressure at the set-pieces as their lineout went to the dogs and the power of the Saints scrum put them under all sorts of pressure.

Pressure

That pressure soon told after scrum-half Rhys Webb's attempted clearance was charged down by Tom Wood before the ball squirted away and Clark reacted quickest to touch down.

Myler added the conversion for a 7-3 lead, but the Ospreys responded through a second Biggar penalty.

Northampton were down to 14-men after George Pisi tip-tackled Biggar and was shown yellow. Biggar dusted himself down to kick the resulting penalty, which narrowed the Ospreys' deficit to a point, but Northampton were soon back on the offensive and punished another Ospreys error.

This time it was Tipuric who was the culprit, spilling possession near halfway following a tackle by Luther Burrell, and North gathered possession before sprinting away to score his sixth try of the European campaign.

Myler's conversion opened up a 17-9 interval advantage and the Ospreys had it all to do against heavyweight opposition that at times had flexed its impressive collective muscle.

It took Northampton 28 minutes of the second period to increase their advantage when Myler kicked a penalty after an attempt immediately beforehand bounced back off the post.

It summed up the Ospreys' day, and although they never gave up, they could not mount a comeback.