Bears enjoy an eight-try romp against Sharks

DMP Sharks ......3 Bristol Bears ..50

BRISTOL BEARS ran in eight tries in a dominant win over DMP Durham Sharks at the Darlington Arena.

The Bears opened the scoring after seven minutes when winger Courtney Keight rounded the Sharks defence to score in the corner.

The visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening half and were aided by a yellow card for the Sharks flanker Tiana Gordon for a tackle off the ball.

Bristol made the most of their numerical advantage as Alisha Butchers burrowed over from close range minutes later.

As the game approached the half-hour Bristol were celebrating once again when scrum-half Lucy Burgess profited from a clever support line to score under the posts.

And there was still enough time to clinch the bonus point before the break through a brilliant individual try for outside centre Phoebe Murray. Flyhalf Elinor Snowsill converted three of their first-half tries as Bristol held a 26-0 lead.

The visitors started the second half as they finished the first with a well-taken second try from Phoebe Murray extending the advantage. They then enjoyed a purple patch, scoring three tries in just five minutes.

First, Butchers added her second, before further tries from Simi Pam and Kayleigh Powell took the Bears total to the half-century mark.

The home side rallied, however, and enjoyed much more territory in the final 20. A Beth Blacklock penalty got the Sharks on the board on 55 minutes, before a yellow for Manon Johnes in the dying stages. Despite a series of 5m lineouts the hosts were unable to cross the whitewash before the full-time whistle sounded.