Bristol put weakened Bath to the sword in yellow card frenzy in Cardiff

Bristol kept themselves firmly in Gallagher Premiership play-off contention after beating west country rivals Bath 36-14 at the Principality Stadium.

The Premiership’s first game in Wales attracted a crowd of 51,095, with an occasion Bristol billed as the club’s ‘Big Day Out’ not disappointing under a closed roof.

Bristol’s bonus-point win took them third ahead of next Friday’s crunch away clash against play-off rivals Sale Sharks.

And while a much-changed Bath – head of rugby Johann Van Graan made 13 changes following a European Challenge Cup semi-final victory over Edinburgh with his team already assured of Premiership top spot – battled hard, they came up short.

Bristol prevailed despite collecting four yellow cards and twice being temporarily reduced to 13 players as discipline frequently let them down.

Gabriel Ibitoye, Rich Lane, Fitz Harding, Gabriel Oghre, Will Capon and Viliame Mata scored Bristol’s tries, with AJ MacGinty kicking three conversions, while Ciaran Donoghue and Ewan Richards touched down for Bath, both converted by Donoghue.

Bath had to absorb almost 10 minutes of pressure from the kick-off as Bristol probed for an early score, but poor game-management and misdirected kicking frustrated Bears’ breakthrough attempts.

Bristol were then forced on to the back foot as Bath camped in their 22, and amid a flurry of penalties, Bears prop Max Lahiff was yellow-carded by referee Luke Pearce following a technical infringement.

Bath took the lead when wing Joe Cokanasiga broke through Bristol’s defence in midfield, and Donoghue applied an accomplished finish before adding the conversion for a 7-0 advantage.

Bristol continued to be their own worst enemies, and they again fell on the wrong side of Pearce when centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg challenged Bath captain Richards in the air from the restart and received a yellow card.

It meant Bristol were briefly reduced to 13 players, but they responded after Lahiff rejoined the action when Ibitoye crossed from close range.

Bristol built on that momentum, and they went ahead nine minutes before half-time when a flowing move at pace was finished by Lane, with MacGinty’s conversion opening up a 12-7 advantage.

The impressive Richards then put Bath back on the front foot through a strong midfield surge, yet Bristol ended a lively opening 40 minutes by breaching Bath’s defence for a third time.

A five-metre lineout gave them an attacking platform and Oghre touched down, with MacGinty’s conversion making it 19-7 at the interval.

And Bristol pulled further ahead just four minutes into the second period when skipper Harding crossed, securing a bonus-point and a 19-point advantage after MacGinty converted.

Bristol suffered an injury blow when flanker Steven Luatua limped off shortly afterwards, and Bath struck next through a Richards try that Donoghue converted.

It was a strong revival by Bath, whose cause was helped when Bristol lock Joe Batley and number eight Mata received yellow cards in quick succession.

The Bears suddenly found themselves hurled into a prolonged period of defending, but they coped impressively with the numerical disadvantage and showed sufficient composure to close out the contest, helped by tries for Capon and Mata, and collect five points during a play-off race now well down the home straight.