Felipe soars from zero to hero

Argentine fly half Felipe Contepomi recovered from a shambolic first half to score 17 points and clinch Bristol's fourth home win in a row yesterday.

He could easily have doubled his tally but little went right for him before the break as he missed a series of kicks and spilled a gilt-edged try-scoring opportunity.

While Contepomi misfired, Newcastle threatened to take control but their inability to to hang on to the ball left manager Rob Andrew tearing his hair out.

Andrew said: 'That's the worst we have played this season.You would have thought someone had taken their brains out at half-time.

'We dug ourselves a hole and just kept on digging. You cannot afford to turn over that amount of ball in the Premiership and expect to win.'

Bristol player-coach Dean Ryan, a former team-mate of Andrew, said: 'There was a time when we would have caved in mentally but we're much stronger now in that department'

The win would have been easier had Contepomi found his touch earlier. He hit the post with a fifth-minute penalty and was wide again three minutes later when the Falcons were offside. In between, he was prevented from scoring a try in the corner when he dropped the ball following Michael Stephen-son's crunching tackle.