Injury-hit Saints suffer painful home defeat as Bears roar back to bag win

Phil Dowson's men, who had lost 20-15 at Sale Sharks six days earlier, had looked in control at 19-8 up in the first half, especially as Gabriel Ibitoye had been sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on.

But Bristol kept going and there was to be a costly final two minutes of the first 40 for Saints as Callum Sheedy struck a penalty and converted Magnus Bradbury's second try of the game.

Saints bagged the try bonus point thanks to Tommy Freeman's effort early in the second half, but the Bears bit back with scores from Max Lahiff and Harry Thacker as the home side struggled to keep their discipline.

Saints, already without 13 players, were badly depleted by injuries during the game as Freeman, James Ramm and Sam Graham were all forced off, adding to George Hendy's withdrawal before the match started.

And despite trying to get up a head of steam to salvage the game late on, Saints couldn't force their way over the line as Bristol held out, ensuring Dowson's men would have to make do with two points from the encounter.

Hendy had added to the injury woes before the game even began as he suffered a problem in the warm-up, bringing Tom Litchfield into the team at centre.

But the late disruption didn't dampen the home side's start as they came flying out of the blocks, kicking a penalty to the corner and setting up a patient move that saw Tom Seabrook dive over in the corner.

Fin Smith slotted the conversion from the touchline, and it was 7-0 inside the opening three minutes, just as it had been at Sale six days earlier.

Saints continued to pour forward but Bristol did well to turn the ball over inside their own 22 as they resisted some real pressure.

And the Bears were soon doing damage at the other end, earning penalties that set up position in the 22, allowing Virimi Vakatawa to offload and open the door for Bradbury to score.

Sheedy missed the conversion, seeing it strike the right post.

And Saints immediately made him pay, Ramm offloading superbly for Seabrook to power over for his second of the game.

Smith again delivered a fine conversion to stretch the lead to nine points, but Sheedy soon reduced that, slotting a scrum penalty after Saints had dropped the restart.

Bristol were then hit by a sin-binning as Ibitoye was punished for a deliberate knock-on, and Saints took immediate advantage.

A fantastic flat pass from Tom James found Tom Pearson, and the flanker glided effortlessly over the line.

Smith sent the conversion just wide but Saints were sensing a bonus-point before the break, with the only thing stopping them scoring again being a forward pass.

Ramm then had to do some strong work at the other end, standing tall to stop Vakatawa in his tracks after the big centre had gathered a kick ahead.

Vakatawa was heading off the field five minutes before the break as the centre was struggling with an injury.

Sheedy notched a penalty to reduce the deficit to eight points, and there was still time for the Bears to cut the gap to just a single point as Bradbury powered over for his second.

Sheedy's conversion left Saints to trudge off with real frustration as they reflected on a poor end to a half they had appeared in total control of at one point.

Saints were given the perfect tonic at the start of the second period as a charge-down on halfway led to Smith kicking ahead for Freeman, who showed his speed as he grounded the ball to bag the bonus-point try.

Smith missed a conversion he would have expected to make, and it meant Bristol could take the lead with a converted try.

That was exactly what they did as a penalty was kicked to the corner, setting up a move that saw prop Lahiff power over.

Sheedy added the extras to make it 25-24, and the fly-half soon added a penalty from distance after yet another breakdown penalty was given against the hosts.

Saints lost Freeman to injury to add to their woes, and skipper Graham then found himself in the sin bin for killing the ball before Bristol went to the corner and sent hooker Thacker over for the bonus-point try.

Sheedy missed the conversion but it was now a long way back for Saints with 20 minutes to go.

The home side had a truly makeshift backline as injuries took their toll, but they found a way to win a penalty with seven minutes to go, allowing Smith to reduce the gap to six points.

James Williams sent a penalty that would have made sure of the win wide for Bristol, giving Saints hope of a late resurgence.

And the black, green and gold really threatened but Bristol defended with real desire, with a knock-on from the hosts eventually confirming the win for the Bears.

Saints: Ramm (Grayson 71); Freeman (Garside 53), Litchfield, Hutchinson, Seabrook; F Smith, James (McParland 66); E Waller (A Waller 50), Langdon (R Smith 50), Davison (Millar Mills 50); Moon (Munga 54), Coles; Scott-Young, Pearson, Graham (c) (Lockett 77).

Bristol Bears: Lane; Heward, Vakatawa (O'Conor 35), van Rensburg, Ibitoye; Sheedy (Williams 70), Randall (Marmion 76); Woolmore, Thacker (Capon 72), Lahiff (Kloska 59); Dun (Caulfield 59), Batley; Harding (c), Thomas (Heenan 72), Bradbury.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys