Newcastle gave little Christmas cheer to their former captain Dean Ryan as
they brought to an end the mini revival of his fast-improving Bristol outfit.
Centre Luke Nabaro, whose brace of tries helped Bristol to a 37-32 win in last
season's corresponding fixture, repeated the feat but this time was on the
losing side as the west country club went down to their first defeat in four
matches.
Inspired by wily old scrum-half Gary Armstrong, the Falcons were deserved
winners and would have put the issue beyond doubt long before the final whistle
had Johnny Wilkinson enjoyed more success with his normally trusty boot.
The England fly-half scored 22 points in Newcastle's 32-16 Tetley's Cup win
over Bristol in November and he contributed 13 at a snowy Kingston Park.
But Wilkinson missed with three of his six penalty attempts, two of them
plucked from in front of the crossbar by lanky forward Alex Brown, and was also
off target with three ambitious drop-goal attempts.
With two tries apiece, though, it was Wilkinson's successes that proved the
difference as Newcastle dominated the game for long spells.
Fijian centre Nabaro opened the scoring in the ninth minute, diving on the
ball after full-back Dave Walder's kick was charged down by Brown, and then made
the most of a two-man overlap created by Felipe Contepomi's midfield break to
grab his second.
Newcastle drew level when Armstrong caught the visitors' defence wrong-footed
with a quickly-taken tap penalty and they went in front when prop Micky Ward was
driven over from a five-metre line-out.
Bristol were a man short at the time, with scrum-half Gareth Baber despatched
to the sin bin for a professional foul, and they were 17-12 down by the time
their captain returned.
Newcastle also had their captain sin-binned and Doddie Weir was forced to
endure an anxious 10 minutes on the bench as Bristol launched a late bid to keep
their winning run alive.
Contepomi put over a 68th-minute penalty after Weir had been found guilty of
killing the ball.
But he returned in time to steady the Newcastle ship, with Wilkinson making
sure of victory with his third successful penalty deep in injury time.
Zurich man of the match: Gary Armstrong.
Teams:
Newcastle: Walder, Stephenson, Cook, May, Tuigamala, Wilkinson,
Armstrong, Ward, Nesdale, Hurter, Grimes, Weir, Arnold, Mower,
Beattie.
Replacements: Graham for Ward (69), Jenner for Mower (49).
Not Used: Charlton, Taione, Rule, Peel, Howe.
Tries: Armstrong, Ward.
Cons: Wilkinson 2.
Pens: Wilkinson 3.
Bristol: Best, Rees, Nabaro,
Mayer, S. Brown, Contepomi, Baber,
Johnstone, Williams, Crompton, Archer, A. Brown, Fenn, Vander,
Brownrigg.
Replacements: Dewdney for Rees (69), Simone for S. Brown (49),
Sheridan for A. Brown (49).
Not Used: McCarthy, Fullman, Salter, Bowen.
Sin Bin: Baber (28).
Tries: Nabaro 2.
Cons: Contepomi.
Pens: Contepomi.
Att: 3,738
Ref: Steve Lander (RFU).
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