CHIEFS MARCH ON
BRISTOL may have played all their shining lights but were left seeing stars as Exeter’s secondstring extended their lead at the top of the Premiership. Welsh starlet Ioan Lloyd thought he had won it for the Bears with a try 10 minutes from time but Exeter prop Billy Keast delivered the knock-out blow. The Chiefs had led 15-3 at halftime, thanks to tries from Phil Dollman and Sam HidalgoClyne before Semi Radradra set up scores for Piers O’Conor and Luke Morahan. Exeter were never beaten, though, and now lead the league by 11 points. The Fijian superstar may be the talk of the league, but it was veteran Dollman, at 35, who carved up to score the first try beating four, including Radradra, to score a sensational opener. Then from another set-piece Exeter snuck down the blind side — Hidalgo-Clyne acrobatically scoring after a strong surge from Olly Woodburn.
The Chiefs were leaving Bristol behind on the road to Twickenham, and Gareth Steenson hit a penalty to add to his earlier conversion. All the Bears could manage before half-time was a solitary penalty from Callum Sheedy. But then, the comeback. After the break, the Bears were a different beast. Radradra helped assist tries for O’Conor and Morahan. Sheedy had missed an earlier penalty but his conversions put Bristol in front for the first time. Steenson nudged Exeter back ahead with a penalty before Ben Earl found 19-year-old Lloyd on the right who danced through to score. That might have been curtains for Chiefs, but when Keast biffed over they had sprung from the ropes.