Tries by Paul Diggin and Alan Dickens helped to secure the points for the hosts, with Billy Twelvetrees claiming the Tigers points with a try and two penalties

Tigers will feel it was a harsh return for their afternoon's work, especially in the first half when they dominated territory and possession but trailed 14-8 at the break after the hosts claimed well executed tries in their only major attacks of the half.

The game was barely 100 seconds old when wing Diggin - often a thorn in the Tigers side - burst through in midfield from an inside pass by fly-half Stephen Myler and dived in to score to the right of the posts. Myler added the conversion to make it 7-0.

For most of the remainder of the opening 40 minutes, Tigers dominated possession and territory, and looked to play the ball wide and search for openings.

Tom Youngs, starting at hooker for the first time, made a couple of notable bursts, Billy Twelvetrees and Lucas Amorosino injected pace into the backline, and Sam Vesty kept the Saints penned in their own 22 with some smart work from fly-half.

Twelvetrees claimed the Tigers' opening points of the day with a 40-metre penalty from wide on the left after Youngs had given the visitors some go-forward and Saints were whistled for coming in at the side of a ruck.

Amorosino gave a glimpse of his attacking talent just moments later, despite appearing to be in trouble inside his own 22. Fielding a low ball following a kick from Myler, the Argentinean full-back gathered possession, slipped past one tackle and then beat the next defender to get Tigers going forward again.

But just as they were looking to capitalise on their possession, Tigers found themselves a second score down midway through opening period.

Saints centre Chris Mayor came through midfield and, although an Alesana Tuilagi tackle wrapped up No8 Roger Wilson, scrum-half Alan Dickens saw the opportunity and arrived to take the offload and score in the right-hand corner. Myler's well-struck conversion made it 14-3 to the hosts.

Tigers looked for an instant response and it was Amorosino who acted as catalyst despite taking possession barely 22 metres from his own tryline.

Myler launched a huge high kick and the Tigers full-back caught the ball on the chalk of his own 22 and, with two Saints chasing him down, set off immediately forward. He found a way through the centre of the pitch, bursting 70 metres before finding Twelvetrees to his right and the young centre dived in to score out wide. Vesty's conversion fell a fraction short with the score 14-8 to Saints.

Tigers were well on the front foot, with Vesty placing a perfect kick in behind the Saints defence and a Brett Deacon charging down the clearance kick from Bruce Reihana following a quick throw-in from Diggin. Unfortunately for Tigers, the bounce took the loose ball into the arms of Dickens and, despite pressure from Deacon and the Tigers pack, Saints were able to clear.

Saints also survived another scare just before half-time when Tuilagi hacked through loose ball but knocked-on just short of the tryline with the home team seemingly waiting for the referee's whistle.

The hosts claimed the first score of the second half, with Myler landing a perfect penalty from wide on the right just four minutes into the action.

A little more than a minute later, Tigers had a chance to cancel out that kick, with referee Dave Pearson whistling for a binding offence at a scrum against tighthead Brian Mujati, but Twelvetrees fell a metre short with his attempt from the right of the Saints 10-metre line.

Tigers escaped moments later when centre Joe Ansbro burst through the midfield but was hauled down just short. After the forwards kept out the threat from a series of close-range rucks, Mauger made a big hit on Mayor and the pressure was relieved when Saints were penalised for holding on.

Joe Duffey replaced Youngs on 51 minutes but Tigers were immediately penalised for pulling down a maul from a Saints line-out and Myler had the chance to stretch the lead to 20-8 with a kick from the left side of the 22.

Amorosino gave another example of his broken-field running, picking up a Myler clearance on halfway and weaving his way through the covering defence before being brought down on the right touchline. Saints were penalised at the breakdown and it proved to be Amorosino's final contribution, as he took a knock and was replaced by Geordan Murphy.

Tigers retained possession, with Deacon and Twelvetrees punching decent holes in the defence before Saints were whistled again. Twelvetrees took the kick from in front of the posts to make the score 20-11 to the hosts.

Robbie Harris and Jeremy Staunton entered the fray with 13 minutes remaining, replacing Boris Stankovich and Mauger.

Matt Smith did well to win a foot-race with Diggin entering the final three minutes, but had to dot down behind the Tigers tryline. And he gained his rewards when Saints were penalised at the five-metre scrum. Looking to keep possession, Tigers chose to tap and go, with Twelvetrees and then Staunton making useful ground up to halfway before Saints were able to regroup.

But Saints notched the final points of the day with a close-range penalty from Barry Everitt right on the 80-minute mark, which secured a home semi-final in the Anglo-Welsh competition.