Wade rolls back the years with hat-trick

■ By ROGER PANTING

Bristol Bears ………………..41pts

Tries: Ibitoye 1, Naulago 39, Randall 50, Malins 64, 68; Lane 72

Conversions: MacGinty 1, 50, 64, 68

Penalties: MacGinty 28

Gloucester ………………….. 44pts

Tries: Wade 6, 33, 61; Thomas 18, Anscombe 22 Conversions: Barton 6, 18, 22, 33, 61

Penalties: Barton 42, 53, 77

CHRISTIAN Wade rolled back the years with a hat-trick of tries as Gloucester won a bizarre thriller for a first victory at Ashton Gate ter six consecutive defeats.

After six years away, Wade is back in the Premiership and took his tally to 85 tries, 16 behind the leader Chris Ashton.

But it could have easily gone horribly wrong for Gloucester as Wade’s yellow card was the catalyst for them doing their best to surrender a 19-point lead with only 16 minutes remaining.

Gloucester head coach George Skivington said: “Christian has magical feet and he can easily find spaces. He has a swagger but takes the game very seriously and has brought a level of professionalism to us.”

Gloucester’s last away appearance in the Premiership was a 90-0 defeat at Northampton so their fervent supporters were given something to cheer with a deserved victory over their keenest rivals.

Youngsters Freddie Thomas and Harry Taylor were at the forefront of a lively pack which allowed the Welsh half-backs Tomos Williams and Gareth Anscombe to point Gloucester in the right direction.

There was also a polished performance from full-back George Barton, whose exemplary goal-kicking resulted in a tally of 19 points.

Despite the euphoria of an enthralling match, both defences were sadly lacking and realistically neither side will finish any higher than mid-table if there is to be a repeat.

Bristol were the major culprits by gifting their opponents easy points. Few of their players will have impressed the watching England coach, Steve Borthwick, as likely candidates Max Malins and Ellis Genge both had challenging nights.

However Bristol couldn’t have wished for a better start as it took them just a minute to open the scoring when Harry Randall dashed away from a lineout to send Gabriel Ibitoye on a 25 metre run to the line.

Gloucester’s response was swift with first Max Llewellyn stepping past a couple of defenders to give Wade an easy run-in before the home side were stunned by four minutes of mayhem.

Brilliant inter-passing from Gloucester ended with Thomas scoring his second try in two weeks with Siva Naulago yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle earlier in the move.

Randall quickly followed for not retreating from a penalty and the visitors took immediate advantage when Williams chipped ahead for Anscombe to collect and score.

AJ MacGinty stemmed the tide with a simple penalty before Wade scorched 80 metres after intercepting a pass from Malins.

There was still time for a sixth try of the half with Naulago out-flanking the defence but Bristol still trailed 28-15 at the interval.

Barton kicked two penalties early in the second half but Randall nipped over to keep Bristol temporarily in contention until all seemed lost when Wade completed his hat-trick.

Receiving the ball close to the touchline, Wade put in a speculative kick and his persistence was rewarded when another gaffe from Malins allowed him to regain possession.

Malins partially atoned by scoring two tries in quick succession before Wade was yellow-carded for a high challenge which resulted in Bristol drawing level with a try from Rich Lane, but Barton had the final say with his third penalty.