Bristol fight back to overcome feisty Newcastle

The Prem

Bristol (12) 36

Tries: Rees-Zammit 2, Moroni, Heward, Ravouvou, Oghre Cons: Jordan 2, Williams

Newcastle (17) 27

Tries: McCallum, Spencer 2, Leatherbarrow Cons: Connon 2 Pens: Connon

Bristol Bears' second-half spot saw them flooded Newcastle 36-27 arsenic nan Red Bulls saw a chance to extremity their hold for a Prem triumph gaffe done their fingers.

The triumph sees Bristol move up to 2nd successful nan array earlier nan remaining play games, pinch Louis Rees-Zammit crossing doubly and Matias Moroni, Kalaveti Ravouvou, Noah Heward and Gabriel Oghre besides scoring.

Newcastle led for astir of nan clip until nan 56-minute mark, and near pinch their first constituent of nan run aft an awesome Oli Spencer double, positive tries from Murray McCallum and Ollie Leatherbarrow, earned them a effort prize point.

But nan reservoir burst erstwhile nan hosts nudged up and while Bristol indiscipline saw them decorativeness pinch 13 players connected nan field, they had capable to clinch their 5th triumph successful their past six Prem games and confine Newcastle to a 19th consecutive Prem loss.

After showing signs of committedness during nan first half of their defeat by Bath six days agone and pinch 2 European Challenge Cup wins nether their loop this month, Red Bulls came retired fast, playing Bristol astatine their ain high-speed attacking game.

McCallum barrelled complete connected six minutes to headdress a slick transition of varied attacking play, earlier Spencer made it 10-0 arsenic nan winger scooped nan shot disconnected nan crushed and dived past Ravouvou to touch down pinch 1 hand.

Bristol showed really quickly they tin move things astir though pinch 2 tries successful 2 minutes arsenic abstraction opened for Rees-Zammit, who had clip to raise his limb successful nan aerial earlier diving complete for nan first.

The Welshman, playing astatine full-back, was almost instantly done again but though he was held arsenic he punched a spread successful Newcastle's defence, he passed to Moroni connected his enarthrosis to tally in.

Newcastle still had nan last connection of nan half erstwhile Leatherbarrow powered nether nan posts arsenic Red Bulls charged guardant successful numbers to make it 17-12.

Brett Connon's punishment stretched nan visitors' lead to 20-12 early successful nan 2nd half and it signalled clip for Bears leader Pat Lam to commencement ringing nan changes, which quickly paid disconnected arsenic replacement Oghre and Heward exchanged passes for nan second to score.

Newcastle struck erstwhile much arsenic Sammy Arnold made nan statement break, Alex Hearle slipped done 2 defenders and Spencer connected his extracurricular added his 2nd for their bonus-point score.

But Bristol's caller legs - led by a rampaging Ellis Genge - pushed them clear pinch 3 tries successful 10 minutes.

Ravouvou ran successful connected nan overlap, Rees-Zammit skipped past 3 Newcastle players for his 2nd and Oghre scored pursuing a driving maul, pinch Batley's 20-minute reddish paper for caput interaction successful a tackle nan only awesome blot connected their day.

Bristol head of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

"A hard-earned 5 points, good done to Newcastle they really took it to us. We made changes successful nan group and we weren't really getting front-foot ball, they slowed our shot up but a batch of value came done astatine nan end.

"It's bully to get nan 5 points and astir importantly pinch nan six-day turnaround to Sale [on 2 January] we've freshened up a fewer of nan boys that didn't play today.

"It was 1 of those games wherever again we would people past we'd fto them in, we knew they scored astir of their tries if they get successful location truthful we talked astir thing for free. Some of nan penalties that we were getting pinged for which put them successful location astatine nan opening were surely questionable but we've sewage to look astatine ourselves.

"What was frustrating america was a batch of our statement breaks they were allowed to travel intelligibly offside successful stopping immoderate of those plays but I loved nan measurement nan boys stayed successful and managed nan past 10 minutes, and pinch 13, 14 men sewage nan 5 points."

Newcastle Red Bulls caput coach Alan Dickens told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"Something we talked a batch astir coming into this crippled was momentum.

"Against Bath we had nan momentum successful nan first half and past we mislaid it, truthful that was thing we talked astir - if we do suffer it, really do we get it back?

"Certainly aft we scored nan 4th effort successful nan 2nd half, Bristol had a purple patch, but we did wrestle backmost nan momentum towards nan backmost extremity of that 2nd half.

"Granted it was a small spot of sick subject from them that resulted successful a 20-minute reddish paper which gave america possession and past territory and we were capable to unit Bristol, but not people again to make it a tighter finish.

"When nan facets of our crippled do travel together for 60 to 80 minutes we're going to put successful a bully performance. Gloucester adjacent week is different opportunity to put our champion type connected nan transportation and that's what we want to do."

Bristol: Rees-Zammit; Heward, Moroni, Williams, Ravouvou; Jordan, Randall; Lahiff, Thacker, Chawatama; Taylor, Batley, Owen, Harding (c), Mata.

Replacements: Oghre, Genge, Halliwell, Rubiolo, Ivanishvili, Wolstenholme, Worsley, Lane.

Sin bin: Kalaveti Ravouvou (77)

Red paper 20 mins: Batley (66)

Newcastle: Grayson; Spencer, Hearle, Arnold, Obatoyinbo; Connon, Benitez Cruz; Brocklebank, McGuigan (c), McCallum; Usher, De Chaves, Gordon, Christie, Leatherbarrow.

Replacements: Fletcher, Hancock, Palframan, Baker, Mafi, Elliott, Hutchison, Chamberlain.

Referee: George Selwood