More than a year after their last meeting, the rivalry between Exeter Chiefs and Saracens had lost none of its potency as the Sandy Park hosts emerged as 18-15 victors on Saturday.
Sarries suffered their second loss of the Premiership season so far and failed to close the gap on leaders Leicester Tigers having failed to cross the whitewash in their trip to Devon.
London Irish had no such problems at home to Newcastle Falcons and ran in six tries during a 43-21 win, half of which belonged to star winger Ollie Hassell-Collins.
Northampton Saints also let loose with six scores of their own in a 40-19 battering of last-place Bath when Courtnall Skosan and Juarno Augustus each crossed over for a brace apiece.
Elsewhere, an injury-hit Wasps fell just short in their comeback attempt at Worcester Warriors, who were happy to escape as 32-31 winners at Sixways as they climbed four places to eighth in the Premiership.
Exeter Chiefs 18-15 Saracens
Rejuvenated by the return of several key figures, Exeter Chiefs reminded their Premiership peers of the powers they possess after holding on to edge Saracens by a penalty score on Saturday.
Two of England's most dominant forces of the past decade collided at Sandy Park, and it was Rob Baxter's side who claimed the spoils thanks to tries from Tom O'Flaherty and fit-again Luke Cowan-Dickie either side of half-time.
Alex Lozowski did his utmost to keep the visitors within range after accounting for all of Saracens' points with his five penalties, but the Exeter defence looked at its best as the five-time champions failed to cross the whitewash.
Joe Simmonds executed an inch-perfect kick for O'Flaherty to touch down for the hosts' opening try before captain Cowan-Dickie bundled over a decisive second from a line-out maul.
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Northampton Saints 40-19 Bath
Northampton racked up their second-biggest scoreline of the league season so far while Bath's misery continued at Franklin's Gardens, the latter registering a ninth defeat from as many games.
Rory Hutchinson scored in less than a minute before Tommy Freeman collected his fifth try in four games, and Augustus' brace before the break ensured the Saints were well on way to a bonus-point win by half-time.
South African compatriot Courtnall Skosan made sure of the result with a second-half double of his own, improving his Northampton record to seven tries in five Premiership starts.
Bath's plight wasn't helped by both half-backs Ben Spencer and Danny Cipriani coming off injured in the first half, scoring consolation tries through Sam Underhill, Lewis Boyce and Will Stuart.
London Irish 43-21 Newcastle Falcons
Not for the first time this season, Brentford Community Stadium was treated to a masterclass in finishing as London Irish winger Hassell-Collins helped inspire the Exiles to a second straight Premiership win.
Kyle Rowe, Steve Mafi and Agustin Creevy were also among the scorers for Declan Kidney's side, but it's 22-year-old Hassell-Collins whose treble troubled Newcastle most in their sojourn south.
Sean Robinson and Calum Chick kept the game fairly competitive with a first-half try apiece, and England bolter Adam Radwan crossed over with one of the final touches of the game to score for the third match running.
Worcester Warriors 32-31 Wasps
Worcester are unbeaten in consecutive games for the first time this season after keeping Wasps at bay long enough to see out the narrowest of victories at Sixways.
Head coach Jonathan Thomas' side led 32-14 with 30 minutes remaining but failed to score another point while their guests grabbed 17 without reply to come away with a valiant losing bonus point.
Will Chudley's score early in the second half proved sufficient for Worcester to beat Wasps for the first time since 2013 following first-half efforts from Gareth Simpson, Duhan van der Merwe and Ted Hill.
Hooker Dan Frost came up with two tries as Vaea Fifita and scrum-half Sam Wolstenholme attempted to complete the comeback, only for Jimmy Gopperth to miss the crucial conversion following Tom Willis' last-minute score.