Fenton-Wells leads the way in 11-try victory for the Bears
Will Carpenter reports on Bristol’s European Challenge Cup victory in Russia
BRISTOL Bears made it backto-back away wins in the European Challenge Cup with an 11-try victory over Enisei STM in Sochi, to keep their hopes of a quarter-final spot well and truly alive.
Nick Fenton-Wells scored a hattrick and Piers O’Conor touched down twice as Pat Lam’s side scored 38 unanswered second-half points to storm to their highestever points tally in a European away fixture.
Joe Joyce, Nick Haining, Mat Protheroe, Jake Armstrong, Sam Graham and Tom Pincus also got in on the act, while Callum Sheedy kicked five conversions to seal a commanding win for Bristol more than 2,000 miles from home.
O’Conor’s fifth-minute try kickstarted the scoring on a soggy afternoon at the Yug Stadium, taking advantage of a break from his mid- field partner, Sam Bedlow to crash over.
The Russian side were then reduced to 14 men when wing Denis Simplikevich was sin-binned for leading with the forearm in contact, but it didn’t deter the hosts who soon got on the board courtesy of a Ramil Gaisin penalty.
Bristol scored their second on 14 minutes when good hands on the blindside saw Joyce crash over.
After a second Gaisin penalty, Pat Lam’s side scored their third through hooker Fenton-Wells, who capitalised on a strong driving lineout to touch down.
Gaisin kicked his third penalty after Bristol were penalised for not rolling away, but the visitors secured the bonus-point on 35 minutes when Haining darted over after a series of short carries had taken them within striking range.
Bristol were briefly denied a fifth