SARACENS' away day hoodoo at Wasps continued in heart-breaking fashion after Mark van Gisbergen's last-gasp conversion handed the hosts the points in a thrilling 27-26 triumph at Adams Park on Easter Sunday.

The Men in Black looked odds on to beat Wasps on their own patch since October 1997 when they led 26-13 with 10 minutes left.

But a late brace for Eoin Reddan helped Wasps snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and left Saracens deflated.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Sarries, who landed a classic sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time with a brilliantly-worked Thomas Castaignede score. Jackson, who had struck two penalties to ease Sarries back into the game after they trailed 6-0, added the extras to give the visitors a 6-13 lead at the interval.

Cencus Johnston then bulldozed his way over eight minutes into the second half before Wasps fullback Danny Cipriani brought the hosts right back into the mixer.

However, Rodd Penney's score in the right corner looked to have given Sarries a remarkable victory until Irishman Reddan turned the game on its head with that late double salvo to allow replacement fly-half Van Gisbergen to steal the headlines.

Wasps got the first points on the board after 13 minutes when Ben Skirving was penalised for not rolling away near his own 22. Dave Walder landed the conversion to settle the early tension.

Walder made it 6-0 minutes later after Sarries infringed at the scrum before they sounded a warning to Sarries with a thrusting attack, only for Fraser Waters to be thwarted metres from the line by the outstanding David Seymour.

Sarries then burst away and winger Kameli Ratuvou was denied on the right after his ball supplier, Rodd Penney was bundled into touch on the Wasps 22.

Thomas Castaignede sparked Sarries into life with a lung-busting 60-metre dash before supplying the pass to the trundling Cencus Johnston. Wasps ended up killed the ball just short of the try line and Jackson nailed the resultant penalty.

The Kiwi, the Premiership's leading points scorer, then put Sarries on level terms with another straight-forward pot-shot after blood replacement John Hart was caught offside from Neil de Kock's box kick.

The breakthrough for the visitors arrived on the stroke of half time when a precision cross-field kick from Jackson was expertly taken by Ratuvou on the left. The Fijian flyer sped 10 metres before feeding Castaignede inside him to finish off a move straight from the training ground. Jackson added the extras to give the visitors the advantage at the interval.

Jackson extended Sarries' lead further with his boot after Wasps failed to roll away from the tackle before most of Adams Park was silenced again in the 51st minute.

Seymour turned the ball over on halfway and after it had mad its way out to Castaignede, the wily Frenchman burst through several tackles before passing for Johnston to crash over on the left. Jackson sent his kick wide in what would prove to be a crucial miss.

Four minutes later Wasps hit back with a score of their own. Reddan sprayed his pass out to Dominic Waldouck and the centre showed quick hands to put Cipriani in on the right. Walder made no mistake with the conversion as the game suddenly hit fifth gear.

But just when Wasps started to gather momentum, Sarries streamed forward again and Rodd Penney was afforded acres of space to land their third try. Again Jackson missed his cue but the sight of the influential Ratuvou limping off offered a more worrying sight.

Andy Farrell, who was much more involved than he was against Glasgow last weekend, urged his players not to rest on their laurels but there was nothing they could do to stem the tide of Wasps attacks.

The hosts' pressure was rewarded when Reddan sold a dummy to slip over the line from close range after Sarries had withstood a pushover attempt from a lineout. Van Gisbergen kicked the two points to leave his side just a converted score from taking the lead.

Tom Voyce then should have done better with an overlap on the left before Reddan repeated his two-try heroics against Leinster the previous week after fooling Sarries by taking the blind side route to the line from the rear of the scrum.

Van Gisbergen again kept his cool to knock over the kick, something Jackson failed to do seconds later when his attempted drop-goal fell metres short of the posts.

The losing bonus point means Sarries remain fourth with two Premiership matches left.