By Duncan Wood
September 16 2002

It was a pretty good performance by Bristol against Northampton. However, it all came to nothing as the Saints profited from Bristol mistakes to sneak the victory and leave the Bristol crowd stunned.

Northampton started strongly and Bristol had trouble getting hold of the ball. It wasn't long before referee Ashley Rowden set the tone for the afternoon and awarded the Saints a penalty and Grayson made no mistake.

Bristol bounced back though. Only 6 minutes were on the clock when Bristol drove deep into the Northampton 22. From a few yards out, Pichot moved the ball right to Felipe Contepomi. Felipe looked to have been held up short but showed great strength to force his way over before adding a superb touchline conversion.

Grayson and Contepomi swapped penalties to move the score to 10-6 to Bristol before the home supporters were incensed by the sinbinning of Neil McCarthy on 20 minutes. Chief seemed to impede Dawson as he tried to pass. It was his first offence and seemed harsh considering some of the Saints's antics at the breakdown.

Bristol did well to survive the period when they were down to just 14 men conceding only 1 penalty to Grayson. Then the tables were turned on 33 minutes and Mattie Stewart saw yellow.

Bristol profited immediately when they kicked a penalty to the corner. The ball was taken cleanly in the middle of the lineout and the rolling maul set up. The Saints pack, down to seven men of course, couldn't keep the drive out and Garath Archer was at the bottom of the pile. Felipe's conversion made it 17-10.

Bristol immediately gave away another penalty when Mike Lipman obstructed in front of the catcher at the restart. Grayson made no mistake to narrow the gap to 17-12.

As half time approached, Bristol were dealt a major blow. Agustin Pichot knocked on when trying to take a quick free kick. Paul Grayson chipped into the Bristol 22 and Brendon Daniel seemed to have plenty of time to cover. He let the ball roll and bounce however and it took a wicked hop back over his shoulder and into the arms of John Leslie who could scarcely believe his luck and crashed over. Grayson's conversion made it 17-19 at half time.

Bristol would have been stunned to go into the interval trailing. They'd dominated territory although possession was keenly contested. Saints hadn't really looked like threatening until the score out of the blue which was more due to an error than any attacking skill.

Early in the second half, Bristol self destructed again. From a set scrum, Contepomi's clearance kick was charged down and Bristol were on the back foot deep in their own 22.

Some valiant defence kept the Saints at bay until a loose clearance kick was fielded by Nick Beal who scampered down the right touchline and broke a couple of tackles before giving the scoring pass to Budge Pountney. The scoring pass looked a good yard forward but the points were on the board and Grayson's conversion extended the lead to 17-26.

Bristol really turned it on now and pushed Saints back deep into their 22. The players looked almost too keen to score and a couple of promising positions were wasted.

However, it all came good from a scrum in the Saints 22. Bristol moved it right and Contepomi used his dummy runners wisely before firing it out to Jamie Williams. Williams drew the cover and put Brendon Daniel in at the corner. Contepomi's conversion shaved the wrong side of the post.

Contepomi reduced the gap yet further with another penalty and it was 25-26 with 13 minutes to go. Bristol were piling on the pressure and looking good for the win. Jamie Williams in particular was pinning the Saints back into their 22 with some raking left foot kicks.

From a lineout close to the line, Garath Archer got within a yard and then Ben Sturnham was driven over by the rest of the pack but Ashley Rowden gave only a 5 metre scrum. If anyone is interested, there's an interesting photo of the incident on the official Bristol site at www.bristolshoguns.co.uk.

Bristol maintained the pressure and sucked the Saints cover in. Martin Shaw found space moving left. He had one man in front of him and 4 Bristol players on his left. He drew the man, spun out the pass...which fell in between everyone and bounced into touch. Saints cleared.

Only moments later, Bristol coughed up possession and points again. Contepomi took the ball into contact and tried to force the pass to Phil Christophers who could only knock it forward. Saints took full advantage and moved the ball right to Ben Cohen.

Now credit to Cohen, this was a class finish. Martin Shaw was in pursuit and seemed to have the angle. However, Cohen slowed up and then accelerated to leave Shaw grasping at air. The cover couldn't get there and Grayson's conversion made it 25-33.

Bristol were obviously devastated by the double blow of not scoring and then conceding a try. They tried to move the ball from all over the place but the Saints defence was feverish. Contepomi narrowed the gap on 78 minutes to 28-33 with a penalty but Grayson responded in kind to cancel it out and move Saints 8 points clear again. There were no more scores

I still can't really believe that Bristol lost this game let alone failed to secure a bonus point. The pack went so well and it was generally a very secure performance.

However, the bounce of the ball seems to be going against us at the moment. Leslie's try was down to a freak bounce, Pountney's came from a chargedown and then a forward looking pass. Cohen's was well taken but came from a turnover.

The performances are improving but how Bristol could do with a win. With Gloucester and Leicester looming, it'll have to be earned the hard way.