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GP Round 11

Northampton Saints v Bristol Rugby

Saturday 3rd January 2009 Franklin's Gardens

KO 3pm

Another bitterly cold day for rugby,  Today our visitors from Bristol arrived for the fifth encounter of the season, with Saints leading the victories 3-1.Could the home team make it 4-1 or would the West Country team take home the vital points and make it 3-2? More of that anon.

Walking past the ticket office, I noticed that the queue reached well past UKOBE's magnificent tackle-could it be the Chico effect? No matter. Onward to the sanctuary of my seat in the South Stand, from where I observed Piggy prowling along the halfway line, glowering at the Bristol team, who were obviously ruffling the pile on the immaculate surface whilst warming up-brave souls!

The ill omen of a solitary magpie, seen on the journey in to FG soon proved to be correct: when the teams came out, it was the visitors who would be playing towards the Lake End in the second half-disaster.

And so to the game: it wasn't pretty, in fact it was pretty dull at times, but a win is a win and the 4 points are very welcome.

Smyler got things under way and Saints put early pressure on Bristol with a lovely cross field kick that bounced just too high for Digger to pluck out of the air...a try in the corner was not to be.

There were missed penalties from both sides, and then a group hug brought the captains together for a chat with Sir. A blistering run down the wing by Ben Foden had the faithful cheering, but the move came to naught, and Bristol cleared upfield. Dylan was soon rampaging back towards the South Stand, but passed the ball to someone in the Tetley’s. Time for his first breather saw our favourite pantomime villain going down, but he made a speedy recovery, encouraged back to his feet by the crowd.

More missed opportunities of points, but at last Saints put together several phases of play from inside their 22 - the crowd were roaring on their boys, but the move ended with the ball spilled forward. Another attempt to cross the whitewash on the other side of the field was ended when the ball was deemed to have been knocked on. A scrum in the Bristol half of the field ended with a penalty for the hosts and up steps Smyler: Saints break the deadlock at last- 3-0 it was, with 29 minutes on the clock. Digger was giving it his all and what seemed like moments later, was blistering down the wing to score under the posts-the extras being added again by Myler. Mark Regan was now beginning to wind up the crowd with his delaying tactics and the Ref wasn't helping the situation: he didn't seem to mind at all. The slow handclapping and jeering only encouraged Ronnie...he loves a reaction.

Saints win the next lineout and a lovely pass is judged to have been deliberately knocked on by a Bristol hand-and is duly punished by the boot of Smyler. 13 - 0 to Saints and half time beckons.

An early second half penalty makes the score 16 - 0,and shortly after, Bristol are awarded their first penalty of the second half. Ed Barnes puts Bristol on the scoreboard, but that was the last of the points for what seemed an eternity.

Regan is at last pinged for his slowing antics, much to the delight of the home support. The first of the replacements enter the fray, and soon after, Bristol had their first attempt at crossing the whitewash. Monty was caught in possession close to the tryline, but immense defence from Saints eventually saw a turnover and a penalty for hands in the rock.

The most popular replacement of the afternoon then came...Regan off to great applause from the home crowd. Is that the last time he will play at FG?

The game resumes with Digger going for a high ball and being scythed down in mid air-he looked as though he'd been flung about like a rag doll. Fortunately he was soon back on his feet. Mr. W didn't produce a card for the offence, which frankly amazed me. Saints were awarded a scrum and soon we see Ben Foden scorching the grass to score a 5 pointer, leaving 2 prone defenders in his wake, the extras being added, taking the score to 23 - 3.More replacements follow, before Saints are awarded a scrum in Bristol's red zone: a lovely flick pass from Sgt Wilson, that is passed beautifully out to Jon Clarke who scores in the corner. The successful conversion takes the score to 30 -3,with only minutes remaining on the clock. The restart sees some Carlos magic...a deft little kick through the legs of the Bristol defence sees Bruce gather and run upfield, only to be tackled before he can offload - a possible 4th try wasn't to be. With seconds left to play, it’s Bristol who have the final say...David Lemi chipping ahead and getting fingertips onto the ball to be awarded the try. The final score 30-8 to Saints and the home record intact. So 4 - 1 to Saints it is.

It would be a long journey home for the travelling support: let’s hope we can say the same next week.

Photos by Getty and Simon Hendy

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