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| - Bristol boss Pat Lam said he was confident a "purple patch would come" after his side came from 14-0 down to win 20-14 away to Northampton on Sunday. Bristol caught their opponents cold with two tries in three minutes as the Saints suffered a second straight home defeat following a loss to London Irish. Bristol were well behind with 30 minutes left but replacements Henry Purdy and Lewis Thiede then crossed Northampton's goal-line, with Callum Sheedy converting both tries. Sheedy also kicked a penalty, as did Bristol team-mate Ian Madigan. Harry Mallinder scored Northampton's lone try, with the Saints' other points coming via three James Grayson penalties. "We couldn't carry on playing like we did in the first half as we turned over so much possession and you can't play rugby like that if you want to set any form of standard," said Lam after a win at Franklin's Gardens that left Bristol fourth in the English Premiership table, a point ahead of Bath and four adrift of the second-placed Saints. "We said at half-time that we needed to be patient as our purple patch would come," he added. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will contest the title-deciding play-offs with English rugby union's top flight assured of a new champion following Saracens' relegation for salary-cap breaches. "We are still sitting in second place in the table but the advantage we had prior to the Six Nations has now disappeared," said Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd. Saints' first attack led to a try, with former England back-row forward Teimana Harrison making several surges into Bristol's defence before Rory Hutchinson gave Mallinder a simple run-in. Northampton, despite losing lock Alex Moon to injury, extended their lead through the first of Grayson's penalties and he was on target again to leave them 11-0 up at half-time. Lam sent on Purdy and Joe Joyce after the break. Grayson still edged Northampton further in front before Bristol at last got on the scoreboard nine minutes into the second half through a Sheedy penalty after Hutchinson was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Joyce. Bristol made their man advantage when Piers O'Conor's break split the Saints defence before Purdy went through another gap for a try. Sheedy landed a difficult, touchline conversion and minutes later Bristol crossed the Saints' line again. Replacement scrum-half Andy Uren burst clear before Thiede forced his way over from close range, with Madigan's last-minute penalty completing Bristol's comeback win. jdg/dj
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