Bristol stun bottom club Newcastle, Bath beat Tigers

Newcastle Falcons remain bottom of the Premiership table after Tom Pincus’ late try gave Bristol Bears a 35-28 win, while Bath saw off Leicester Tigers 23-16 in Sunday’s other top-flight fixture. 

The struggling Falcons led 20-10 at the break at Ashton Gate but Bristol came roaring back in the second half to claim only their fourth top-flight win of the season, moving them six points clear of their opponents. 

Harry Randall got Pat Lam’s men off to a dream start, taking an offload from Luke Morahan to score the opening try in the first minute, but it was advantage Newcastle at the interval following five-pointers from Vereniki Goneva and Callum Chick. 

While two tries in the space of five minutes from Charles Piutau and Morahan – plus a second penalty from Ian Madigan – gave Bristol a five-point lead, Adam Radwan got on the end of a Toby Flood grubber kick to make it 25-25. 

Callum Sheedy and Flood traded penalties as the tension mounted and it was Bristol who snatched it in the closing stages, Pincus stepping inside to finish after an incisive run from Ed Holmes, claiming not only a huge win but also a welcome bonus point.

?| That’s the crucial 4??th try! ?#BRIvNEW pic.twitter.com/kxf7lTf9Ea

— Bristol Bears ? (@BristolBears) December 30, 2018

Meanwhile, Bath moved up to fifth in the standings thanks to a home win over Leicester.

The Tigers are just one point ahead of Bristol after Jamie Roberts, Nathan Catt and Ruaridh McConnochie went over to give Bath back-to-back league victories, Jonny May’s try and 11 points from the boot of George Ford against his former club proving to be in vain for the visitors.