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The Saints left the Memorial Stadium with their first away league point of the season. However the losing bonus point was scant consolation from a match in which James Downey's try and Stephen Myler's conversion and two penalties had given the visitors a 13-7 lead. But Luke Eves scored a vital try with 10 minutes left and Bristol held out for the points. In many ways this was a typical Guinness Premiership match - an uncompromising battle which was likely to be decided by a solitary mistake. Bristol belied their basement-dwelling status by coming quickly out of the blocks and could have scored in only the third minute had Adrian Jarvis kicked a penalty. Saints struggled to get out of their half in the opening 10 minutes but when they did points soon followed. Although Stephen Myler missed an 11th-minute drop-goal the manner in which Saints put the fly half into the pocket was promising as Lee Dickson and Mark Easter both slipped out of the attempted home tackles. Bristol could not clear their lines from the 22-metre drop-out and Myler made no mistake with a penalty three minutes later. Bristol were certainly in no mood to let Saints settle. A penalty conceded for an early tackle was pushed to the corner and after a couple of forwards had a go for the line Dan Ward-Smith was driven over. Jarvis's conversion curled over to a rapturous reception. The lead was short-lived. Vunga Lilo's sliced clearance allowed Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe and Chris Ashton to break down the right wing. James Downey's power took him through the defence and with some neat offloading from Chris Mayor, Paul Shields and Myler the visitors were in sight of the whitewash. With two on two and plenty of space to work in Downey's try was straightforward. Myler's conversion wasn't, but the ball sailed from the touchline straight between the sticks to put Saints 10-7 up. Saints were soon back into the home danger zone with some more powerful running and looking good for a second try. Unfortunately inability to control the ball at a ruck was pounced on by Joe El Abd, who hacked 40 metres upfield. The bounce went Bristol's way and after the outside backs made ground Jarvis kicked a penalty to the corner. This time the defence held and the visitors escaped. There was an even closer near-miss five minutes from half-time when Lilo fumbled a Tom Arscott pass five metres out. Saints weren't done yet either and Foden's charge-down of a Lilo kick had Bristol in all sorts of trouble, compounded by David Lemi's poor clearance that went straight to Easter. Unfortunately Tom Smith became isolated at a subsequent ruck, the penalty went Bristol's way and the half ended with the visitors still leading 10-7. Like the first half, the second period had a scrappy opening. And like the first half a long penalty shot was the first opportunity of points. The similarities continued as Myler's kick dropped agonisingly short of the cross bar as Jarvis's had done and the three-point margin was maintained. Bristol should have re-taken the lead immediately afterwards. With Neil Brew waiting with Lemi on the wing quick ball would have brought a try. But Scott Hobson was not the midfield man to make the score happen and when he slowed the play down Saints covered easily. Lemi came off his wing to stretch the Saints defence on the right in Bristol's next attack. It certainly helped the hosts as they created another overlap, which again they wasted when the crucial pass bounced into touch. Having held out Saints now needed points to steady the ship. Myler obliged with a simple penalty, but he had Easter and his captain Bruce Reihana to thank for their hard running that gave him the shot at goal. Reihana then put Saints back into the home danger zone with a flick pass to Foden on the right and then a powerful run on the left that Lemi and Mat Turner did superbly to neutralise. Spurred on by their rearguard Bristol attacked once more and Shaun Perry's superb break sliced Saints open. But as had happened so often thus far the support wasn't there when needed and the visitors scrambled to clear. There were no white-clad defenders to cover when Bristol next broke however and Luke Eves crossed for their second try close to the sticks. This made the conversion a formality and Ed Barnes put the hosts in front by a point with 10 minutes to go. Ten quickly became five and Saints' attempts to run the ball from deep became increasingly desperate. Debutant Juandre Kruger linked well with Lobbe and Myler chipped to the wide open Ashton. But Bristol, and replacement Shaun Perry in particular, had not let their concentration slip and held their line assuredly. There was a late chance of a try for the visitors when Ashton and Foden sprinted clear down the right, only for the winger's attempted pass to go forward. And then with 80 minutes on the clock Myler attempted an audacious 40-metre drop-goal. This drifted right and Bristol had won the game. Teams:
Bristol - Lilo (Turner 57mins); Arscott, Brew, Barnes, Lemi; Jarvis (Eves 57mins), Beveridge (Perry 52mins); Clarke, Regan (Linklater 69mins), Hobson (Crompton 69mins), Winters, Sidoli, To'oala (Grieve 69mins), El Abd (capt), Ward-Smith. Northampton Saints - Foden; Ashton, Mayor, Downey, Reihana (capt); Myler, Dickson; Smith (Tonga'uiha 65mins), Shields (Gray 69mins), Stewart, Fernandez Lobbe, Day, Hopley (Kruger 65mins), Easter, Wilson. Scorers:
Bristol - Tries: Ward-Smith, Eves; Cons: Jarvis, Barnes. Northampton Saints - Try: Downey; Con: Myler; Pens: Myler (2). Referee:
Dean Richards Attendance:
6,310 TIMELINE:
3mins BRIS Miss pen Jarvis
11mins SAINTS Miss drop-goal Myler
14mins SAINTS Pen Myler 0-3
20mins BRIS Try Ward-Smith Con Jarvis 7-3
23mins SAINTS Try Downey Con Myler 7-10
HALF-TIME BRISTOL 7 SAINTS 10
48mins SAINTS Miss pen Myler
67mins SAINTS Pen Myler 7-13
70mins BRIS Try Eves Con Barnes 14-13
80mins SAINTS Miss drop-goal Myler
FULL-TIME BRISTOL 14 SAINTS 13 |
