The third part of our five-setter with Bristol resulted in a crushing 66-3 victory. The ECC quarter final looks a near-certainty already . The Saints made Bristol pay for resting their top men. Surely the westcountrymen won't be so generous next week at the Mem.

What's this week's news in the programme. Very sad news : former Saint and local man, Ken "Quack" Taylor died suddenly last Saturday.His unsophisticated, bandy-legged running allied to razor-sharp tackling didn't catch the headlines and he found it hard to displace the classier Roger Hosen and Ian Moffatt at full back, but the Gordon Terrace saw him as one of their own ; the Harvey or Digger of his day-Northampton to his bones.

So what awaited us after recent disappointments? Were the Saints brilliant or Bristol very poor? To be honest , it was a bit of both. The coaches had been busy. Changes in the line out; 9 man line-outs with three pods on the Bristol defensive throws- at last we're putting real pressure on the opposition throws. Novelty on our own throws -shortened lineouts with Roger Wilson and Tiny deputed to bash holes in midfield. Dickson box kicking from 9 rather than feeding Myler to kick and Ashton and Digger swapping wings to shore up the defence on the right wing. Perhaps we need more demanding tests to see if these tactics have a future, but today they couldn't be faulted.

Even the referee was OK today. I was expecting some Gallic eccentricities from Monsieu

r Poite , perhaps our dominance prevented this. "Two times problems for the front four " seemed an odd thing to say, but we'll let that pass. A yellow card for the ever-combative Matt Salter led to 14 Saints' points that finished

the game as a contest. M. Poite can come again.

It took 9 minutes for the si

nging to start and this became the signal for a Myler wrap-around

move, Ashton into the line at pace and a flying Digger over in the corner. Myler landed the first of several excellent conversions from the touchline-what a difference his kicking is making.

The ever-dominant Wilson barged over from the scrum five after Salter's yellow for an illegal block and Bruce's burst in midfield put Easter over for his first. Bruce's running was a constant threat and showed what we all know; 15 is his best slot . But he won't meet such a generous lack of tackling again this year. A Digger off-load on the line gave Chris Ashton his first and a happy crowd trotted off to the bars and bogs at half time.

For the second half the wingers switched back. Murray had done his job and, after a Bruce try, Wilson, Myler and Lobbe departed to be cotton woolled for future, sterner battles. More tries-Aston, Digger- and twenty minutes for the returning John Clarke to show us what we've been missing since the second week of the season. He certainly did that with a try, a couple of searing breaks and a kick, chase and mugging of Lee Robinson leading to Carlos' kick to Ashton and a feed for Easter's second. Prior to this Flash himself raced in for his third and the fiftieth of his short career. Has any Saint got to 50 quicker than his 41 games?

Fortress Franklins remains inviolate. How can this form be translated into away wins? What turns our stars into travelling also-rans? Our young men miss the comforts of home, baying west country crowds and unsympathetic refs can lead to hesitancy and errors. They need to see and hear more familiar figures in G, B and G at away grounds. Bristol on a cold December Sunday or Bath two days after Christmas may seem distinctly less appealing than an armchair but the boys need us there. Will you be going? I will. See you there.

Saints 66 Bristol 3

Tries: Ashton 3, Diggin 2, Easter 2, Reihana, Clarke, Wilson.

Conversions : Myler 5, Spencer 3.

Bristol. Penalty: Jarvis

Attendance:12607

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