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Bristol come from behind to beat struggling Wasps
By PA
Callum Sheedy scored 18 points as Bristol beat Wasps 23-8 at the Coventry Building Society Arena in a match that looked every inch a meeting between the ninth and 10th-placed teams in last season’s Gallagher Premiership.
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The Bears, buoyed by their opening round victory over Bath, barely got out of second gear as they cruised to a win by simply making fewer errors than a Wasps side devoid of confidence after letting a 21-point lead slip at Gloucester last week.
Tom Cruse’s early try was not to be a tone-setter for Lee Blackett’s side as Sheedy’s penalty and his converted score gave Bristol a half-time lead.
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Charlie Atkinson kicked a penalty but then missed a straightforward opportunity that would have put Wasps ahead.
From that point on the scoring was all in Bristol’s favour as Sheedy landed another penalty as well as two drop goals, either side of Magnus Bradbury’s try.
The encounter had started so well for Wasps as they took the lead just five minutes in.
Two members of their all-English back row combined as Jack Willis stomped free and fed Alfie Barbeary. Upon the recycle, Atkinson played a teasing looping pass out in front of veteran hooker Cruse, who finished coolly in the right corner.
Sheedy’s penalty cut Wasps’ lead before the Welsh fly-half finished off a blistering Bristol attack, which saw Rich Lane hauled down inches from the line by Sam Spink.
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But Harry Randall was in close support to feed his half-back partner before the defence could get set.
The second quarter of the match ensued with no further score added as the Willis brothers produced key turnovers in their own 22 when the Bears were well placed to score.
And Spink spurned a great opportunity when he failed to catch Atkinson’s teasing pass.
England lock Joe Launchbury’s brilliant finish in the corner was ruled out due to an earlier forward pass and Wasps’ misery was compounded when Atkinson skewed a routine penalty wide.
However, Sheedy made no such mistake from a simpler position.
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Bristol stretched their lead to 12 entering the final 20 minutes, when two Wasps handling errors saw Bristol go from 22 to 22 before Charles Piutau teased his former employers by offloading to Bradbury, who crossed over the whitewash despite Barbeary’s tackle attempt.
Wasps huffed and puffed in attack but were met by a resolute defensive effort as Bristol showed some of the attributes that saw them finish top of the table only two seasons ago.
As a subdued home crowd headed for the exits, Sheedy landed a nonchalant drop goal to put the result beyond any doubt.
