Like a bus that finally arrives after a frustrating delay despite a clearly published timetable, Bristol Bears’ first league win at Ashton Gate for what seemed like a lifetime, was greeted with much relief.
It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination but there was a structure and solidity in both attack and defence (restarts aside!) that helped deliver the victory and transport the club off the bottom of the table.
Given the way the Premiership campaign has gone so far I did have some doubts before the game, particularly with respect to the size of Newcastle’s pack, but there were no complaints about the effort that was put in over the 80 minutes which perhaps went some way to alleviating some of the claims in the week that Pat Lam’s job was on the line.
As might be expected, he had dismissed this as "white noise" and it was interesting that his first comments post-match were to thank the fans for support. Of course, there’s nothing better than a bonus win to quieten the critics but with a block of four Premiership games to come, including two at Ashton Gate and plenty of points to play for, who knows what the landscape will look like come Easter.
There were some notable player performances not least from Joe Batley and Noah Heward, but it was the quality of the burgeoning half-back pairing that caught my eye.
The Randall-MacGinty axis is starting to look very potent as the former fizzed around the park and the latter probed for valuable bits of space, exemplified early on where quick service from the ruck, a half break and offload into space and support on the shoulder led to a textbook try from Bristol’s own pocket rocket. It does make you wonder whether it was his injury in October that contributed most to our autumn malaise.
However, if this result marks the turning of a corner then a win down the road on Friday at the Rec now becomes essential if we are to drive up the table. Derby day brings its own challenges but with our confidence high and theirs lower after defeat on Saturday, I fully expect to see a rip roaring response to last year’s defeat at the death with the bragging rights returning to BS3. Up the Bears!
You can listen to Bears Beyond the Gate on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify and Buzzsprout
