By Duncan Wood
December 1 2002

Bristol clinched a vital win at Newcastle with Brendon Daniel the hero thanks to his 3 tries. Bristol leapfrog Bath and London Irish and move up to 9th in the table. Newcastle remain at the bottom but they're still in touch.

Bristol clinched their second away win in successive weeks with a hard earned win over Newcastle. The Falcons may have been swept aside at the Memorial Stadium 3 weeks ago, but they were a far tougher proposition at home.

Bristol were allowed the luxury of Felipe Contepomi missing with an early penalty attempt before he nailed one on 13 minutes to open the scoring.

Centres Daryl Gibson and Andrew Higgins were causing problems and they were involved, along with Phil Christophers, in the break out move that led to Daniel cruising into the corner for the first of his hat-trick.

Liam Botham hit back with a penalty but he was involved in a fatal bit of hesitation which led to the second Bristol try. He and Jamie Noon left a Shane Drahm kick through to each other and Daniel needed no second asking. He gathered the bouncing ball and sprinted over. The conversion from Felipe made it 15-3.

Botham kicked a late penalty to make the half time score 6-15 which would have pleased Bristol although they could have been further ahead. Newcastle, for their part, were a huge improvement on 3 weeks ago.

Newcastle continued to press after half time and 2 more Botham penalties narrowed the gap to 12-15. The Falcons also though they'd scored when Tom May touched down after a Jamie Noon break but the ball had gone forward.

The turning point was a moment of controversy involving Darren Crompton. Newcastle were attacking and DC appeared to knock down Phil Godman's pass out wide. Referee White didn't give anything and Brendon Daniel seized on the loose ball and went in for a vital score.

Newcastle pressed desperately for another score but the Bristol defence held firm and kept their line intact despite a couple of narrow squeaks. With the last kick of the match, Botham tried for a penalty to clinch a bonus point but missed the kick.

Shoguns head coach Peter Thorburn commented: "Brendon has come from outside the team to be a very valuable member of it."

"He is a veritable try machine and there cannot be many better wings in the country than him. We really needed his hat-trick today and I'm delighted for him."

Another huge win for Bristol who climb to 9th in the table and complete their first league double of the season. Newcastle may be struggling but any away win should be treasured in this league.

Bristol can now look forward to the Heineken Cup double header with Swansea in good spirits.