Saracens scrum-half Ben Spencer hailed a battling last-ditch 23-20 LV=Cup final win against Exeter Chiefs at Franklin's Gardens.

Sarries led 20-6 with 20 minutes of the game remaining thanks to a brace of tries from David Strettle and a close-range effort from Nick de Jager.

The Chiefs, however, staged a superb comeback with young full back Max Bodilly crossing twice to tie the scores, but Spencer had the final say with his late penalty securing the title for Sarries.

"We're a very, very tight knit group," said Spencer.

"During those last ten minutes, we were fighting for everything. A few decisions didn't go our way. In those last few minutes, to put pressure on Exeter like that from the lineout and then to get that penalty at the end was just brilliant.

Spencer, who kicked eight points during the match, was sent to the sin bin just before the break after he was penalised for failing to roll away at the ruck.

The Sarries scrum-half atoned for his ten minutes off the field by setting up Strettle for the first of his two tries with a perfectly judged kick into the corner.

"That was the first yellow card of my career," Spencer said.

"Probably not the best time to get it, but the boys did incredibly well when I was off. It just shows how tight we are as a group to come away with the victory."

"Obviously, we came into today with a game-plan. We identified there was an area we could attack and that was one of them. I'm just glad it went straight to Strettle's hands.

Exeter assistant coach Ricky Pellow was disappointed to see his side lose the game with the last kick of the match having seen his side fight back from 14 points down.

The reigning champions relinquished their crown following a thrilling 80 minutes of action in Northampton.

"I'm massively proud of the group today," he said.

"As a squad we are disappointed with the way we lost the game. Full credit to Saracens, they put us under a lot of pressure."

"We did go off script a little bit today and, when we did, they punished us. That's the sign of a good side.

"They held on at the end and Ben Spencer, who is a quality kicker, knocked it over. We're going away with a loss and Saracens are moving forward and have an LV= Cup under their belt."