Exeter Chiefs were unable to find a way past Premiership leaders Saracens, falling to a 16-9 defeat at Sandy Park.
A Ben Ransom try along with fine kicking at goal from Alex Goode and Marcelo Bosch put the game beyond Chiefs, whose points all came from the boot of fly-half Gareth Steenson and full-back Phil Dollman.
Tom Johnson came close to edging Chiefs back to within two points in the final minutes but the television match official failed to award the try.
It was not the most successful start for the Devon club. Steenson missed with a long-range penalty kick in the opening two minutes before Sarries took the lead just moments later.
A strong break by England wing Chris Ashton set up the chance for replacement Ransom, and despite only being on the pitch a matter of seconds after coming on for Charlie Hodgson, he touched down to left of the posts.
Goode added the conversion and the visitors seemed to be cutting through the Chiefs' line with alarming ease early on.
However, the hosts regrouped to an extent with centre Ian Whitten going within inches of grabbing a try back for Exeter, only for the television match official to judge that he had been stopped just short.
Chiefs' challenge was made all the more difficult when Steenson was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on with 15 minutes of the first half remaining. And Goode punished the indiscretion by adding another three points to the scoreboard for his side.
Steenson's absence meant full-back Dollman was called into action as a replacement goal-kicker when Chiefs won a penalty late in the first half.
The Welshman's attempt from just outside the Sarries 22 was more than adequate, reducing the arrears back to seven points temporarily before Goode kicked through the posts for a third time with four minutes of the opening half left.
Chiefs began the second half in style and their running rugby drew another penalty which Steenson successfully kicked at goal. However, that effort was soon matched by centre Bosch, who took over Sarries kicking duties from Goode.
Exeter finished the game strongly with breaks from Johnson and replacement Luke Arscott forcing them into the Sarries' 22 in sustained periods of pressure. However, the visitors held out despite conceding a series of penalties.
Chiefs eventually opted to take three points, putting them seven points behind for the losing bonus point with ten minutes left on the clock.
Johnson went close to setting up Steenson for a potentially match-levelling conversion in the final seconds in a fantastic late surge for the home side only to be denied by the officials.
