What started out as a scrappy game turned into a thriller at Welford Road, as the Tigers moved up to third in the table with the full tally of points, and the Bears slipping to just outside the playoffs in fifth, as the Gallagher Prem started up again this weekend.
Forwards Dominate
The game was a fairly tight affair to start with both sides making handling errors, but the Tigers took the lead when Joaquin Moro fell over the line from close range to score on 17 minutes as Leicester decided to take a short penalty. Billy Searle made it 7-0 with the conversion.
Three Minutes later, the Tigers doubled their lead, when another forward, this time Hanro Liebenberg bundled over the line for the score, again from close range after a long line out and some excellent passing back and across the field. Again, Billy Searle stepped up and slotted the conversion home to give Leicester a 14-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Bristol then came to life with a quick fire double of their own. First it was Flanker Fitz Harding reached over the line whilst in the tackle to cut the deficit and Sam Worsley converted to make it 14-7 with just over 10 minutes to go in the half. A couple of minutes later, some great work by Gabriel Ibitoye found Kalaveti Ravouvou just inside the 22 and he sped home to put the ball down for 5. However, Sam Worsley missed the conversion to tie the game up.
Leicester made it 17-12 at half time, after Billy Searle slotted home his kick after there was a tackle without the ball by Bristol.
Bears fightback
The Tigers added another penalty from the boot of Searle from 44 meters to give them a eight point lead just after the start of the second half. However, Bristol turned on the pressure and converted that pressure into points on 52 minutes, when Fitz Harding piled over for his second try of the game, and with the conversion by James Williams suddenly made it a one point game at 20-19.
Just as everyone thought Bristol might start to move ahead and win the game, Leicester started to find some pressure and this time Izala Perese powered over the line after some heavy Leicester pressure saw Moro tee up Perese’s try to make it 25-19, but the boot of Billy Searle failed this time, missing the conversion to extend that lead.
Late Drama
Bristol fought hard to get back into the game, but Leicester’s defence held resolute, and that perseverance was rewarded when Billy Searle added to his tally with a penalty on 77 minutes to make it 28-19, and as the Bears looked to secure a losing bonus point as well as a bonus point for four tries, Leicester came away with the ball with Ollie Chessum leading the charge. A cross field kick from Freddie Steward found that man Billy Searle on the touch line in acres of space, and as he was closed down, Searle popped the ball up to Gabe Hamer-Webb to secure the full points for the tigers, just as the 80 minutes were up. Searle missed the conversion, but it didn’t matter, making his tally to 10 points for the game.
