Northampton stay in the hunt after proving they can still compete with the best in upset victory over Ulster Where there was complacency and a lack of intensity on home soil, there was drive and determination from the Saints in their 10-9 victory in Belfast. It was a contrast that left their director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, both delighted and slightly bemused. "You saw what we could do this week," said Mallinder. It's highly frustrating because you'd have thought the team would have been up for a home game against Ulster last week, but clearly they weren't. That performance proved we can still compete with the top teams in Europe and it makes it interesting, which is exactly what we wanted it to be. Ulster have got to play Castres, and that's a difficult game for them, and we can look forward to that. The victory, which made Saints the first team since Stade Français on Oct 11, 2008, to win a European game at Ravenhill, was no less than the visitors deserved. They played with precision and punch to prove they still have what it takes to progress in either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup. Ulster lead the Pool with 15 points, Castres have 12 and Saints are on 10. With home advantage against Castres in round five in the new year, Mallinder's men have the perfect opportunity to leapfrog the Frenchmen and push for a second-place total of 20 points. Their final game is in Glasgow, against a Warriors side who have yet to win. It could have been a different story had Ruan Pienaar landed a wide penalty three minutes from time. In fairness to the South African scrum-half, he had a long wait before taking his kick while he waited for Tommy Bowe to be carried off on a stretcher after hyperextending his knee. The full extent of Bowe's injury will not be known until he has a scan.