Jon Clarke on the charge for Saints' first try, Northampton Saints vs Saracens, April 2010
It was a funny old day – the weather was fabulous, the grass very green on the Gardens pitch and it was a full house but the atmosphere was muted. I didn’t notice at first because I was dashing about so much but as I sat at the South stand end in the first half, it became clear the ground was strangely quiet. Yes folks shouted as Saints attacked but it was if we were all frozen unable to step over the winning line. When Shane Geraghty missed the conversion, it seemed to sum up the whole day – nobody could quite take the chance of success.
The match was entertaining and I was mightily impressed by Saracens’ ability to move the ball quickly across their backline. I was less impressed by the antics off the ball. Too often Saints players were taken out so they couldn’t either receive or defend the ball. That behaviour did result in a penalty try but it went unpunished throughout the game.
I was shooting the match with a willing assistant – Hannah Wearmouth took over the short lens duties. She got stuck in and was pretty adept at following the play. She got some great action shots and captured the events leading up to Saints’ tries very well. Ironically, given my demons with the 400mm, Hannah suffered the same malaise as me. Too often she was working at around 100mm rather than making best use of the full focal length. It did mean I shot an entire match with the 400mm which was just what I needed to do – I had a ball. An example of Hannah’s work is below:
Chris Ashton is taken out - penalty try, Northampton Saints vs Saracens, April 2010
And so we go into the Irish match needing to win to be assured of a home semi-final against Saracens. Saracens meanwhile, go to Welford Road. It’s a first time for me at the Madjeski and I am looking forward to the boys getting out there and giving it a real lash. And Hannah is joining me again so it’s a big day for me with the big lens:)
Enjoy the game everybody!
