GKIPA Championship

Bristol 18 Yorkshire Carnegie 13

By John Harding

SUPPORTERS hoping for some exciting play from Bristol, following their defeat by Jersey Reds in their last home game, will have left Ashton Gate on Friday worried about might happen next season should their side be promoted to the Premiership.

Having to dig deep and grind out a win is not what you’d expect from a side that have now won 18 of their 19 Greene King IPA Championship matches this season, and promotion within touching distance.

Bristol have taken a bonus point having scored four or more tries in 15 games but this was the first time this season that they have failed to score a try in the Championship - and credit must go to Carnegie’s defence - and Bristol’s basic errors.

“At the end of the day we ground out a win but there is a lot that we could have been better at, we certainly left a lot of opportunities out there and they got into us but we couldn’t get over the line,” said Bristol head coach Pat Lam.

“Things weren’t quite going right for us but in the end, the boys found a way to win it for us. We all know that we have a lot to work on as we go into the final stages of the season it just comes down to getting the W - and we got.

“We acknowledge that we ground out the win and that will hold us in good stead as well. No doubt our scrummaging hasn’t been the best and we need a solution but [scrum coach] Mark Irish is doing is stripping everyone right back.

“You have to go back to go forward and break some habits to get guys in better positions; give them an understanding of the intricacies and what they need to do. Certainly, there are some good individuals in there but its about working together.

“It’s exactly the same with the lineout and [forwards coach] Jonathan is working on the fundamentals with the lads. That is the way I like to coach and I have no doubt that we are going to get better going forward.”

Lam added: “There is no doubt that some of the passes went quite right and if you catch the ball you’d have more time to put guys away. We were panicking and rushing so some balls want down but that is the learning we have to take.

“We all know that we have played better games than we did in this one. We have a couple of weeks beefier we face Nottingham [Friday, April 6]. We know we need seven Championship games and we have three games to try and get them.

Second row Joe Latta suffered a shoulder injury midway through the first half and with Joe Batley’s season over plus the departure to Ospreys of Giorgi Nemsadze, Bristol have already agreed to draft in this week a player on a short-term contract.

Three Ian Madigan penalties, from four attempts to one on the stroke of half-time from his opposite number, Callum Irvine, gave Bristol a 9-3 lead against a determined Carnegie side who had a solid defence.

Early in the second half, Bristol were forced to weather having prop Gaston Cortes spending ten minutes in the sin bin after collapsing the scrum. But no sooner were they back to full strength than they conceded a penalty try.

That gave the visitors the lead for the first time only for Madigan add two more three-pointers from the tee either side of one from Irvine. But when Carnegie skipper Richard Mayhew was yellow carded eight minutes from time and Madigan added his sixth penalty.

Bristol scorers - pens: I Madigan 6 Yorkshire Carnegie scorers - try: penalty try; pen: C Irvine 2

Bristol: L Morahan; R Edwards (J Lay, 47-54), S Piutau (J Williams, ht), T Pisi, A Leiua; I Madigan, R Williams (A Uren, 79); R Bevington (S Tonga’uiha, ht), J Harris-Wright (N Fenton-Wells, 69), G Cortes ((J Lay, 54; G Cortes, 72), J Joyce, J Latta (S Jeffries, 20), N Haining, D Thomas, J Crane (capt). (S Jeffries, 7 - 9)

Reps (not used): C Sheedy, Yellow card: G Cortes (43-54, collapsing the scrum)

Yorkshire Carnegie: C Elder; G Watkins, A Forsyth, P Lucock, S McColl; C Irvine, O Fox (J Elliott, 75); M Thomas (J Thraves, 52), J Buckle (M Mayhew, 25), C Mitchell (K Bryce, 60), J Whetton, M Smith (J Bainbridge, 62), B West, R Mayhew (capt), R Beck.

Reps (not used): H Newborn, L Brown.

Yellow card: R Mayhew (73, swinging arm)

Referee: K Dickson (RFU)

Att: 7728