Bristol batter Bath in record-breaking win

As I parked my bicycle in front of the south stand at Ashton Gate soon after 7pm on Friday night, people were still arriving at the stadium to have their Covd-19 vaccinations.

There have already been plenty of laments written about sports fans across the UK unable to see their teams in action throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

But while fans are still not allowed into stadiums, the team at Bristol Sport have stepped up to assist the national effort. If there cannot be a sell-out crowd to see some tries, let’s save some lives. There can’t be a better swap than that.

More than any other game at Ashton Gate this season, the visit of Bath would have been one for Bristol Bears fans to savour – especially on this particular Friday night which saw Bristol run out convincing 48-3 winners – their biggest ever win against our neighbours from the Georgian theme park down the road.

When Luke Morahan crossed the line for Bristol’s first try after being found in acres of space on the right wing by a huge pass from Ioan Lloyd, I was still expecting the roar of a capacity crowd.

But with no Bristol fans jumping out of their red seats, this fiercest of rivalries could only be celebrated by air high-fives on the pitch.

There was hardly time to catch breath, and if there had been a crowd the roof – or at least the pints of Thatchers Gold – would have been raised and raised and raised.

• Piers O’Conor dancing through the Bath defence to Morahan to Charles Piatau
• The anticipation when Semi Radradra catches the ball after the restart
• Ioan Lloyd making a clean break through the centre of the Bath defence
• John Afoa making yards after being fed by the immaculately coiffured Nathan Hughes
• Hughes squealing with delight as he powers on with Bath players hanging off him
• Jake Woolmore charging towards the line
• Andy Uren’s lightning quick feet seeing him score after almost half an hour
• Bath’s Rhys Priestland yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on
• Bryan Byrne diving over for Bristol’s bonus-point try
• Byrne’s second after a driving maul

And that was just the first half!

“It’s been a masterclass so far,” I heard Ugo Monye say behind me in the press box.

The first-half finished 34-3 to Bristol – who could have easily have racked up half a century of points before the half-time oranges.

After a relentless first 40, the second-half was a bit of an anti-climax.

It started for Bristol with a Radradra try which saw him cut through the Bath defence as if they weren’t there, running with the ball in one hand as he once again seems Matrix-style to slow time around him.

Bristol’s highest score against Bath was 44-6 in 1980, with the league record coming last season in a 43-16 win.

As we continue to live through historic times, Bristol entered the history books with a penalty try taking the Bears to 48 points with almost half an hour of play remaining.

Scoring tries on the pitch and saving lives in the south stand foyer. All in a day’s work at Ashton Gate.

Ioan Lloyd scored 11 points in his first start at fly-half for Bristol Bears – photo: JMP

Main photo: JMP

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