Northampton moved into the Premiership's top six, keeping alive their outside
chance of Heineken Cup qualification, by staging a storming second half
fightback at the Memorial Stadium.
Saints trailed 21-13 at half time, but England stars Matt Dawson and Ben Cohen
appeared off the replacement's bench to give Northampton a new lease of life.
Fly-half Paul Grayson's goal kicking, he finished with 22 points, kept
Northampton in touch before a late scoring burst finished off Bristol.
Full-back Joe Shaw sprinted over for a 67th minute try to put Northampton
30-27 ahead, and a Dawson break just four minutes later created the platform
that allowed skipper Budge Pountney a close-range touchdown.
Northampton's victory, which was based on a powerful second-half showing from
their pack, lifted them into sixth spot above Wasps ahead of next Sunday's final
game at home to fellow Heineken Cup challengers Newcastle.
Bristol's faint Heineken Cup hopes now appear to be over, and there is little
consolation for them given that they now face a likely Premiership play-off trip
to champions Leicester.
And to complete a miserable night for the home side, they saw substitute
centre Andrew Higgins stretchered off near the end after he appeared to suffer a
neck injury.
A disappointing match saw referee Chris White send three players to the
sin-bin - Northampton forwards Robbie Morris and Andrew Blowers in the first
half and Bristol fly-half Felipe Contepomi on 55 minutes - and the game proved a
stop-start affair.
New Zealander Blowers, back in the Northampton side after almost three weeks
out nursing a shoulder injury, claimed the opening try when he charged 20 metres
from the back of a ruck.
Grayson's conversion gave Northampton a 10-6 lead, but Bristol then conjured
up two tries in three minutes to finish the first half on top.
Former England wing David Rees, playing at outside centre, grabbed the first,
and then scrum half Agustine Pichot capitalised on poor Northampton defence.
Contepomi, who finished with 14 points, kept Bristol comfortably clear through
his accurate goal kicking, but once Northampton's forwards established control,
Saints never looked back.
Three more Grayson penalties to one from Contepomi made it 24-22 in Bristol's
favour approaching the final quarter, and that lead was extended when Pichot
rifled over a snap drop goal.
But the closing stages belonged exclusively to Northampton, who delighted
their supporters among a 4,000 crowd by producing a concerted finale.
Teams:
Bristol: Best, Daniel, Rees, Little, Christophers, Contepomi,
Pichot, Crompton, McCarthy, White, Archer, A. Brown, Sheridan,
Lipman, Sturnham, Higgins.
Replacements: Higgins for Daniel (54),
Nelson for McCarthy (64), Short for Sheridan (73),
Brownrigg for Sturnham (73), Carrington for Higgins (80).
Not Used: Payne, Blake.
Sin Bin: Contepomi (55).
Tries: Rees, Pichot.
Cons: Contepomi.
Pens: Contepomi 4.
Drop Goals: Pichot.
Northampton: Shaw, Brooks, Jorgensen, Tucker, Beal, Grayson,
Malone, Morris, Richmond, Stewart, Phillips, Brouzet, Blowers,
Pountney, Soden, Budgen.
Replacements: Hunter for Jorgensen (80),
Leslie for Tucker (73), Cohen for Beal (44),
Dawson for Malone (54), Thompson for Richmond (64),
Budgen for Soden (8), Soden for Budgen (17).
Not Used: Brenton.
Sin Bin: Morris (5), Blowers (40).
Tries: Blowers, Shaw, Pountney.
Cons: Grayson 2.
Pens: Grayson 6.
Att: 4,002
Ref: Chris White (RFU).
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