Bristol finally climb off the bottom
FRIDAY WRAP: Scrumhalf Harry Randall scored two tries to move Bristol off the bottom of the Premiership table with a bonus-point victory over Newcastle at Ashton Gate.
Newcastle had the better of the possession and territory but polished performances from Randall and half-back partner AJ MacGinty proved the difference as Falcons spurned a number of scoring opportunities.
Chris Vui and Fitz Harding were also on the scoresheet for Bristol, with James Williams adding two penalties and two conversions. Gary Graham and Jamie Blamire scored Newcastle’s tries.
Bristol took the lead in the ninth minute with an excellent try. From a ruck on halfway, a superb break from MacGinty carved the defence apart before his pass sent Joe Batley racing away, with the lock providing Randall with an easy run-in.
From the restart, Newcastle responded with a sustained period of pressure which was rewarded when Graham forced his way over from close range.
Connon converted to give Falcons the lead but Bristol was soon back in front when they declined a simple kick at goal in favour of close-range drives, one of which saw Vui crash over.
The players made light of the miserable playing conditions to provide an entertaining and evenly-contested first half-hour before the visitors suffered two injury blows in quick succession. First their full-back Tom Penny limped off before wing Mateo Carreras fail a head injury assessment.
Despite these setbacks, Newcastle had much the better of the closing stages of the first half. Aided by Bristol’s ill-discipline, the visitors camped in the opposition’s 22 and it took a superb tackle from home flanker Harding to prevent Graham from touching down for his second try.
Falcons were made to pay for their profligacy when with the last kick of the half, Williams fired over a penalty to leave his side with an undeserved interval 15-7 lead.
Within two minutes of the restart, Bristol scored a crucial third try. In their own half their opponents lost possession for MacGinty to race away and put the defence on the back foot before Randall took advantage to nip over for his second.
The home side suffered a blow when wing Gabriel Ibitoye was sin-binned for a high tackle, with Newcastle immediately capitalising when Blamire broke away from a driving maul to score.
Ibitoye returned from the sin-bin in time to see Williams extend his side’s lead with a long-range penalty before they sealed victory with a bonus-point try from Harding with the last play of the game.
* In the other Friday game Gloucester scored two late tries to earn a bonus point victory over Harlequins at a sold out Kingsholm.
It was Quins’ fifth straight loss.
Friday’s scorers and scorers
Bristol Bears 30-12 Newcastle Falcons
The scorers
For Bristol Bears
Tries: Randall 2, Vui, Harding
Cons: Williams 2
Pens: Williams 2
For Newcastle Falcons
Tries: G Graham, Blamire
Con: Connon
The teams:
Bristol: 15 Noah Heward, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (captain), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore.
Replacements: 16 Fred Davies, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 George Kloska, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Harry Ascherl, 23 Ioan Lloyd.
Newcastle: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (captain), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Ben Stevenson.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Phil Watters
TMO: Dean Richards
Gloucester 28-26 Harlequins
The scorers
For Gloucester
Tries: Blake, Thorley, Carreras, Rees-Zammit
Cons: Carreras 4
For Harlequins
Tries: Lawday, Murley, Riley, Jurevicius
Cons: Allan 3
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit.
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Musk, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 George Hammond, 20 Matas Jurevicius, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Luke Northmore.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Sara Cox, Alex Thomas
TMO: Stuart Terheege
