What the supporters thought of the Bristol win
By The Supporters
May 11 2002
THE FANS VIEW
Bristol v Saints
Bristol v Saints
Supporters
Saint Ian
Did anyone see (II).... Jorgy after the collision with Higgins? The latter was out for the count but Jorgy still wanted to carry on (and even went in for a tackle) despite the fact that he could not even stand up straight and looked like he done 10 rounds with Tyson. It seemed that it was all Pasky and co could do to try to get him off the field! He looked like. Somehow I think he'll be forced to have three weeks off now, thereby ending his season; he looked concussed to oblivion. I really admire his approach though; so keen to get on the field and therefore so against leaving it. Nice one, Jorgy, there's no doubting your commitment to the GB&G; hope you have a speedy recovery.
Big Dom
Bristol point of view. I thought my boys could take your lot today, but it wasn't to be. So now we have Listeria away in the play offs. Cheers!
All the best for the rest of your season.
Saint Ian – MOTM debate
Hmmmmmm....got to be the Hurricane (solid as ever), Larry (with his Bernie Larkham impression), Mighty Joe and when they were (finally) allowed on, Daws Ben and Wally. WE could tell that Daws was firing as the Showgirls fans starting carping! Over to James (and Stockers) for further debate, perhaps?!
St. James
Agree with that - mebbe Jorgy with his pure commitment even when out for the count... budge had a good one - getting a try and not getting sin binned for once.... have to say it was an all round good team effort for once...
Stockers
My six for MOTM
Larry
Blowers (Brizzle comment- "Stick to cricket")
Soden
Smokin Joe
Tucker
Daws
Eejit of the evening...Garath Archer
Prat of the Evening...the PA announcer who started the second half introducing the "Mighty Bristol Shoooooooogunnnnsssss"
Daft decision of the evening....award of the Big Hit prize to a Brizzle player just before Jorgy put one in!
Reinvented, reasonable sort of bloke award....Dean Ryan, for congratulating Larry after the game, putting his arm round Larry's shoulder and actually smiling at him!
Saintham
what a great set of fans, which other team would see so much away support for an 8pm kick off 2hours away from home midweek. Brilliant
Sam Wigg
In terms of quality it was probably lacking but in terms of entertainment what a game. To the Bris bloke in the bar before the game ahhhhhhhhhh (gloating), you were right about putting nearly 30 against us but you forgot that we would put over 30 past your boys.
Anyway onto the game, first half Bristol looked like they'd walk away with the win but credit to Larry who kept us within touching distance. Heroic defending from Shawsy and the back row kept the score down and when we attacked them we looked like scoring plenty of tries especially with our pick and drive game. Felt Hurricane and Morris deserved binnings but please can somebody tell the referees to look at the back foot of rucks and mauls as teams seem to be offside.
2nd half - who ever did the team talk needs a pat on the back as we were fired up. Daws and Cohen came on and credit goes to Daws because he got on with what he does best playing the game. Two good tries and I can't recall a bad pass other than the one Shawsy had to pick off his feet to score.
The win certainly leaves a selection headache for Smudger as Shawsy showed great pace and solid hands at full back.
Moments of the match -1) Shawsy's bosh on Pichot after he passed
2) Jorgy's concussion which didn't stop him from attempting to tackle anything in blue
3) the players coming out to rightly acclaim a tough victory
Man of the Match - Hurricane (even though he got sin binned)
Stockers
Well Daws certainly made a big difference last night when he came on as a sub in the second half. As seemingly the only Saints fan in the West Enclosure, it was quite clear that Daws was playing well. The verbal rubbish and animosity being spouted forth by some Brizzle fans made that quite obvious.
Having written this piece yesterday, I was keen to watch him more closely than normal. At one stage, when we had just closed the score and were outplaying Bristol, he came over to Robbie Morris on the touchline waiting for Bristol to restart and had a few words of encouragement, ending with a "prod" at the badge on Robbie’s chest. Robbie listened, looked Daws in the eye and nodded. Brizzle fans seemed to see that Daws was arguing with a teammate!! Props don't nod in an argument, do they?
Later in the game, once we had taken the lead and were defending like mad, there were words of encouragement to other teammates, usually accompanied with a tug at the Saints badge on the shirt. Last night Daws was playing at his best, for the club and for the fans.
He was the last man off after saying thank you to the fans and he and Budge stopped to sign autographs for and have a quick word with a young Bristol fan at the entrance to the tunnel, the home players having long since departed after Dean Ryan told them not to do a lap of the pitch.
Not just for the result and the second half recovery was I proud to be a Saint last night.
Carl
WOW!!!!!!! That was a great win and we needed that. I think we are in 6th and lets hope we can stay there.
Saint Ian
Did anyone else see that consummate professional's (i.e. G. Archer, I know it's difficult from the description) impression of an ape last night directed at Wally?
Is there no end to this man's talents? Not content with offending just about all of the FG faithful at the match we don't talk about before Christmas, there he is, attempting to sledge Nuthampton's finest and England #1 hooker, with an impression of...er, Garath Archer. "Sticks and stones", anybody?
Elegia
seems like the guardian reporter left when I should have!
didn't like the second half at all (spesh the injury to Higgins) you guys took your chances well then
thanks to the saints fans who have come on the Bristol board wishing him well, if you didn't know the latest he walked from the hospital to his car (hope someone moved it from the car park at the ground) & is suffering from a whiplash type injury
& hi to the guys I met in the john cabot before the game, hope you enjoyed this one more than the home leg...
Boro Stu
Was lucky (if it is called that) to be working in the West Country. Got to sneak off to the game last night. Was a little deflated in the first half, Saints not clicking, still a few errors but mostly because I was surrounded by a number of home supporters with a "round ball" mentality. Second half was full of passion, good rugby and best of all quiet home supporters. Thought Joe had a great game - who will fill the 15 shirt at the weekend ? Well done Saints, roll on Sunday !!!
Ben Dover
I listened to the match on the radio, and from what I understand, we did (as usual) our level best to lose the game. Larry's kicking from hand was especially bad in the first half and we had the guaranteed three minutes of madness trying to attack from behind our own 22. Of which one attempt from Joe lead directly to a showgirls try. I am always impressed by his potential, but for me while he's still making those niggling little errors (and they are only little errors) the jury is still out.
Professionals
Brendan Gallagher – Telegraph
A POWERFUL second-half performance from Northampton, allied to the reliable boot of Paul Grayson, helped Saints climb above Wasps into sixth place against a Bristol side who lost their way.
David Hands – The Times
The architect of Bristol Shoguns’ downfall was Paul Grayson, who landed six penalty goals in a match tally of 22 points.
Happily the game recovered from the scruffiest of starts, in which Robbie Morris was in the sin-bin with only six minutes played while Garath Archer was fortunate to escape a similar fate, or worse, after trampling on Nick Beal’s face.
Sky Sports
“The closing stages belonged exclusively to Northampton”
Wayne Smith
"We have got a chance of a top-five finish now," their coach Wayne Smith said. "I didn't think that was a realistic goal when I came here earlier this season, but I didn't realise the character of the players. "They have been superb, and they proved that again with their second-half performance in this game."
Andy Blowers
“The way they (Saints minus AB in the bin) came back in that second half... they were awesome. They were one man down but it was good.”
Budge Pountney
“It was a dogged performance by the boys. Both players were pretty unlucky to be sin-binned, but we just carried on going and the work-rate didn’t cease, and it probably went up during that period.”
El Tel in the Chron
“Shaw, who shone at full-back, and Pountney saw them home to a victory in which the word “pride” was etched deep in their effort”
Saint Ian
Did anyone see (II).... Jorgy after the collision with Higgins? The latter was out for the count but Jorgy still wanted to carry on (and even went in for a tackle) despite the fact that he could not even stand up straight and looked like he done 10 rounds with Tyson. It seemed that it was all Pasky and co could do to try to get him off the field! He looked like. Somehow I think he'll be forced to have three weeks off now, thereby ending his season; he looked concussed to oblivion. I really admire his approach though; so keen to get on the field and therefore so against leaving it. Nice one, Jorgy, there's no doubting your commitment to the GB&G; hope you have a speedy recovery.
Big Dom
Bristol point of view. I thought my boys could take your lot today, but it wasn't to be. So now we have Listeria away in the play offs. Cheers!
All the best for the rest of your season.
Saint Ian – MOTM debate
Hmmmmmm....got to be the Hurricane (solid as ever), Larry (with his Bernie Larkham impression), Mighty Joe and when they were (finally) allowed on, Daws Ben and Wally. WE could tell that Daws was firing as the Showgirls fans starting carping! Over to James (and Stockers) for further debate, perhaps?!
St. James
Agree with that - mebbe Jorgy with his pure commitment even when out for the count... budge had a good one - getting a try and not getting sin binned for once.... have to say it was an all round good team effort for once...
Stockers
My six for MOTM
Larry
Blowers (Brizzle comment- "Stick to cricket")
Soden
Smokin Joe
Tucker
Daws
Eejit of the evening...Garath Archer
Prat of the Evening...the PA announcer who started the second half introducing the "Mighty Bristol Shoooooooogunnnnsssss"
Daft decision of the evening....award of the Big Hit prize to a Brizzle player just before Jorgy put one in!
Reinvented, reasonable sort of bloke award....Dean Ryan, for congratulating Larry after the game, putting his arm round Larry's shoulder and actually smiling at him!
Saintham
what a great set of fans, which other team would see so much away support for an 8pm kick off 2hours away from home midweek. Brilliant
Sam Wigg
In terms of quality it was probably lacking but in terms of entertainment what a game. To the Bris bloke in the bar before the game ahhhhhhhhhh (gloating), you were right about putting nearly 30 against us but you forgot that we would put over 30 past your boys.
Anyway onto the game, first half Bristol looked like they'd walk away with the win but credit to Larry who kept us within touching distance. Heroic defending from Shawsy and the back row kept the score down and when we attacked them we looked like scoring plenty of tries especially with our pick and drive game. Felt Hurricane and Morris deserved binnings but please can somebody tell the referees to look at the back foot of rucks and mauls as teams seem to be offside.
2nd half - who ever did the team talk needs a pat on the back as we were fired up. Daws and Cohen came on and credit goes to Daws because he got on with what he does best playing the game. Two good tries and I can't recall a bad pass other than the one Shawsy had to pick off his feet to score.
The win certainly leaves a selection headache for Smudger as Shawsy showed great pace and solid hands at full back.
Moments of the match -1) Shawsy's bosh on Pichot after he passed
2) Jorgy's concussion which didn't stop him from attempting to tackle anything in blue
3) the players coming out to rightly acclaim a tough victory
Man of the Match - Hurricane (even though he got sin binned)
Stockers
Well Daws certainly made a big difference last night when he came on as a sub in the second half. As seemingly the only Saints fan in the West Enclosure, it was quite clear that Daws was playing well. The verbal rubbish and animosity being spouted forth by some Brizzle fans made that quite obvious.
Having written this piece yesterday, I was keen to watch him more closely than normal. At one stage, when we had just closed the score and were outplaying Bristol, he came over to Robbie Morris on the touchline waiting for Bristol to restart and had a few words of encouragement, ending with a "prod" at the badge on Robbie’s chest. Robbie listened, looked Daws in the eye and nodded. Brizzle fans seemed to see that Daws was arguing with a teammate!! Props don't nod in an argument, do they?
Later in the game, once we had taken the lead and were defending like mad, there were words of encouragement to other teammates, usually accompanied with a tug at the Saints badge on the shirt. Last night Daws was playing at his best, for the club and for the fans.
He was the last man off after saying thank you to the fans and he and Budge stopped to sign autographs for and have a quick word with a young Bristol fan at the entrance to the tunnel, the home players having long since departed after Dean Ryan told them not to do a lap of the pitch.
Not just for the result and the second half recovery was I proud to be a Saint last night.
Carl
WOW!!!!!!! That was a great win and we needed that. I think we are in 6th and lets hope we can stay there.
Saint Ian
Did anyone else see that consummate professional's (i.e. G. Archer, I know it's difficult from the description) impression of an ape last night directed at Wally?
Is there no end to this man's talents? Not content with offending just about all of the FG faithful at the match we don't talk about before Christmas, there he is, attempting to sledge Nuthampton's finest and England #1 hooker, with an impression of...er, Garath Archer. "Sticks and stones", anybody?
Elegia
seems like the guardian reporter left when I should have!
didn't like the second half at all (spesh the injury to Higgins) you guys took your chances well then
thanks to the saints fans who have come on the Bristol board wishing him well, if you didn't know the latest he walked from the hospital to his car (hope someone moved it from the car park at the ground) & is suffering from a whiplash type injury
& hi to the guys I met in the john cabot before the game, hope you enjoyed this one more than the home leg...
Boro Stu
Was lucky (if it is called that) to be working in the West Country. Got to sneak off to the game last night. Was a little deflated in the first half, Saints not clicking, still a few errors but mostly because I was surrounded by a number of home supporters with a "round ball" mentality. Second half was full of passion, good rugby and best of all quiet home supporters. Thought Joe had a great game - who will fill the 15 shirt at the weekend ? Well done Saints, roll on Sunday !!!
Ben Dover
I listened to the match on the radio, and from what I understand, we did (as usual) our level best to lose the game. Larry's kicking from hand was especially bad in the first half and we had the guaranteed three minutes of madness trying to attack from behind our own 22. Of which one attempt from Joe lead directly to a showgirls try. I am always impressed by his potential, but for me while he's still making those niggling little errors (and they are only little errors) the jury is still out.
Professionals
Brendan Gallagher – Telegraph
A POWERFUL second-half performance from Northampton, allied to the reliable boot of Paul Grayson, helped Saints climb above Wasps into sixth place against a Bristol side who lost their way.
David Hands – The Times
The architect of Bristol Shoguns’ downfall was Paul Grayson, who landed six penalty goals in a match tally of 22 points.
Happily the game recovered from the scruffiest of starts, in which Robbie Morris was in the sin-bin with only six minutes played while Garath Archer was fortunate to escape a similar fate, or worse, after trampling on Nick Beal’s face.
Sky Sports
“The closing stages belonged exclusively to Northampton”
Wayne Smith
"We have got a chance of a top-five finish now," their coach Wayne Smith said. "I didn't think that was a realistic goal when I came here earlier this season, but I didn't realise the character of the players. "They have been superb, and they proved that again with their second-half performance in this game."
Andy Blowers
“The way they (Saints minus AB in the bin) came back in that second half... they were awesome. They were one man down but it was good.”
Budge Pountney
“It was a dogged performance by the boys. Both players were pretty unlucky to be sin-binned, but we just carried on going and the work-rate didn’t cease, and it probably went up during that period.”
El Tel in the Chron
“Shaw, who shone at full-back, and Pountney saw them home to a victory in which the word “pride” was etched deep in their effort”