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| - Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam praised his side's fighting spirit as the English Premiership leaders earned a dramatic 28-21 victory at Northampton on Sunday. Northampton turned around a 14-0 deficit to lead 21-14 going into the final stages. But Bristol showed why they continue to set the pace as tries in the final six minutes from Luke Morahan and Andy Uren sent them seven points clear of champions Exeter. "We're pleased with the result and the way we finished, particularly the last seven or eight minutes of the game. When we had to go and win it, we went and won it," Lam said. "It wasn't a great game for us -- we were on the wrong end of the penalty count, we turned over a lot of ball at the breakdown, we were being taken out to the sidelines, there were knock-ons, so we really couldn't get into the flow of the game. "To go 14-0 up, then go 21-14 down and come back in the last seven minutes and get a couple of tries to get five points is a testament to the players." Tries by Henry Purdy and Siva Naulago seemed to put Bristol in control, but Nick Isiekwe's effort right on half-time started a superb fightback by Northampton. George Furbank's try, along with three James Grayson penalties, turned the game on its head, only for Bristol to stun the hosts with their own powers of recovery. Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson believes his side are starting to gel after they crushed London Irish 41-13 at the AJ Bell Stadium. Sharks wing Byron McGuigan starred, touching down three times, while Simon Hammersley, Lood de Jager and Arron Reed also crossed the whitewash. It keeps them in fourth place in the Premiership table. "There's been a little less aggressive form of rotation, so changing six as opposed to 10," Sanderson said. "When those guys maybe came in the first time, they felt the pressure to perform. "Hopefully now they understand that the pressure isn't there because they're always going to play, I'm always going to back them. They came, slotted in and played a lot more of their own game." smg/jc
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