Seven-try Bristol beat Dragons 56-17 to reach semi-final of Challenge Cup

Bristol Bears 56-17 Dragons, Ashton Gate
Scorecard

Bristol Bears came up with a seven-try dominant performance as they defeated Dragons 56-17 in the quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup at Ashton Gate on Friday.

Pat Lam's side continued their impressive run since the restart after the suspension due to Covid-19 and they had a 24-10 lead in the opening half but the decisive moment came in the final 10 minutes when they sealed the game in three tries.

Bristol entered the game with 14 changes from the side that were defeated by Wasps and the after the opening 10 minutes went without a point, Dragons started the proceedings with a penalty kick from Sam Davies.

Two minutes later the visitors increased their lead to 10 points after a cross kick from Davies was collected by Ashton Hewitt on his way over the line and the fly-half also kicked the conversion.

Luke Morahan provided the much-needed breakthrough for Bristol as he breached the defence of Dragons before he and Chris Vui allowed Nathan Hughes to dot down in the 20th minute and Callum Sheedy improved it making it 7-10.

Semi Radradra played a pivotal role in the next two tries of Bristol which saw Ben Earl touching down twice in a span of three minutes and Sheedy kicked the extras on both the occasions and also kicked a three-pointer making the scoreline 24-10.

The start of the second half saw Radradra and Rhodri Williams exchange tries as the gap between the two teams remained 14 points before Sheedy's 54th minute penalty kick increased Bristol's lead to 17 points.

With Sheedy kicking his third penalty kick in the 70th minute, Bristol had a lead of 20 points heading into the final 10 minutes and any chance of a Dragons comeback was put off with Vui (74'), Max Malins (75') and Dan Thomas (77') scoring further tries to complete a 56-17 win and a berth in the semi-final.