Bristol upset the form book to beat their West Country rivals Bath 21-19 at Ashton Gate and keep their Prem play-off hopes alive.
Bath have not won a league match in the city since September 2008, and it says much for Bristol’s spirit that they recovered from last week’s 94-33 thrashing at Northampton and overcame a 19-7 half-time deficit on the night to triumph.
Bristol’s tries came from Fitz Harding and Max Lahiff. There was also a penalty try awarded, with both A.J.MacGinty and Tom Jordan adding conversions.
Ollie Lawrence, Guy Pepper and Thomas du Toit scored Bath’s tries with Ciaran Donoghue kicking two conversions.
After a scrappy opening period, Bath looked to have taken the lead when a long pass from Donoghue provided Henry Arundell with a simple touchdown, but referee Karl Dickson immediately signalled that the scoring pass was forward.
Louis Rees-Zammit carries the ball for Bristol
The first quarter was a virtual non-event, but soon afterwards Bath raised their game to provide the first productive attack with Joe Cokanasiga making ground down the right flank before a succession of forward probes ended with Lawrence forcing his way over for the opening score.
That was the precursor for Bath to increase their dominance in the match, and it came as no surprise when they extended their lead when a smart break from captain Ben Spencer sent Pepper over.
Bears then suffered two injury blows in quick succession when both Santiango Grondona and George Kloska were forced to leave the field to fail HIA’s with Lahiff coming on for his 200th Prem appearance.
Guy Pepper (left) scores for Bath during their defeat to Bristol
Bristol badly needed a boost before the interval, and they got one when Harry Thacker burst away from a lost Bath line-out to set up a platform from which Harding forced his way over but that was soon nullified by a close-range try from Du Toit with Donoghue’s conversion giving the visitors a 19-7 half-time lead.
Jordan replaced MacGinty for the second half before Bristol received an immediate boost with Arundell leaping him to deliberately knock on a long pass, which resulted in the wing being sin-binned and the award of a penalty try.
Bristol had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Louis Rees-Zammit broke free before kicking ahead, but the wing could not take advantage of a favourable bounce as he knocked on with the try-line beckoning.
As a result, Arundell was able to return with no damage done to the scoreboard, with Bath changing four forwards in one swoop in an effort to increase their intensity, but it was the hosts who picked up the next score with a close-range try from Lahiff.
Jordan’s conversion put Bears in front for the first time in the match, and despite late pressure and a last-minute missed kick from halfway from Santiago Carreras, they held on for a famous victory.