Anthony Allen scored the only try of the day and Tigers also survived a surge from the visitors in the final phases of the match to take the points in a 17-12 victory.
Tigers enter the new year sitting in third place in the Aviva Premiership table, behind Harlequins and Saracens. Importantly, they are five points ahead of fourth-placed Gloucester and six in front of Wasps who are just outside the play-off places.
“The effort in the end to keep them out was massive,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill after Saturday's Round 12 triumph.
“The bottle of the lads and the effort was classic Leicester Tigers in many ways.
“But we were good for the result. We knew the set-piece would be important and we pretty much dominated that, the scrum was immense and in the end, the ‘dog’ and willingness to win was huge for us.
“We put them under pressure at the set-piece and put the ball in the right areas of the field. We were disappointed we didn’t get full reward for that, but we wanted to win, we had to win, and thankfully we got it.
“It is important to knock off the points against those teams around you in the table.”
Both teams lost two players to yellow cards during a game played in muddy conditions and at times in driving rain in front of a full-house 24,000 crowd at Welford Road.
“It was an intense game and it is a good win against another team that has been in good form,” added Cockerill.
“We did some good things in poor conditions. We are so critical of our own performances here, but that is an important win.”
Tigers head to Worcester Warriors in Round 13 at Sixways this Friday evening. Kick-off is at 8pm.
