Bristol Bears have dropped to the bottom of the Premiership table, despite coming from 26-12 behind to rescue a draw with defending champions Leicester Tigers.
The West Countrymen had started well, going 12-6 ahead following tries for the returning Semi Radradra and star full-back Charles Piutau, but the Tigers controlled the rest of the half.
Freddie Burns initially provided the visitors’ response before Dan Kelly and Chris Ashton scores took them ahead.
When Julian Montoya went over just shy of the break, Leicester had a commanding 23-12 lead going into the second period.
Burns extended that advantage in the final quarter but Bristol, who went into the contest on a six-match losing streak, displayed tremendous spirit and quality to come back.
Bryan Byrne’s try gave them hope before Leicester’s replacement prop Francois van Wyk was sent off after an incident in the build-up to that effort.
With their opponents down to 14 men, the hosts dominated and were eventually rewarded as Gabriel Ibitoye crossed the whitewash.
AJ MacGinty converted to level matters and then had the opportunity to win the game at the death, but his penalty attempt narrowly missed the target.
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Radradra made his first Bristol appearance since April after undergoing knee surgery, while wing Deago Bailey replaced an injured Luke Morahan and two back-row changes saw starts for Sam Lewis and Jake Heenan.
England pair Freddie Steward and Ben Youngs returned from Autumn Nations Series duty, with Jack can Poortvliet on the bench, Kelly featured for the first time this season following his recovery from injury, and lock Ollie Chessum also returned.
Bristol had dropped to the Premiership basement following London Irish’s victory over Newcastle earlier on Saturday, but they started in confident mood.
Lewis was tackled just short of the line as Bristol pressed, but a supporting Radradra proved unstoppable from three metres out, and Leicester trailed after just five minutes.
Leicester were slow out of the blocks in comparison, yet they began to stir through number eight Jasper Wiese’s midfield break and scrum-half Ben Youngs charging down an attempted Sheedy clearance.
Burns then opened their account with a 16th-minute penalty, and a second strike shortly afterwards nudged his team ahead.
The lead, though, proved short-lived as Bristol conjured a second try when Ellis Genge’s audacious flick-pass found Sheedy and his pinpoint delivery sent Piutau clear to score before Sheedy added the touchline conversion.
It was impressive from Bristol but Radradra was then sin-binned following a reckless challenge on Burns, putting his team under pressure as Leicester pounced.
Kelly rewarded Tigers’ patience by touching down for their first try, then Ashton struck with Radradra still off the pitch, claiming his 98th Premiership touchdown.
Scoring tries comes easy to @ChrisAshton1 @LeicesterTigers mount a clinical comeback to turn the tie on its head
Catch all the action live on @btsport #GallagherPrem | #BRIvLEI pic.twitter.com/9jy87wnzyJ
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) December 3, 2022
Burns rejoined the action after passing a head injury assessment following the Radradra incident, and Bristol could not escape from a vice-like grip.
And it was no surprise when the Tigers collected a third try on the stroke of half-time as Montoya crossed, before Burns’ conversion opened up a 23-12 interval advantage.
A scoreless third quarter threatened to put Bristol well and truly out of the contest and Burns completed a penalty hat-trick that left the home side two converted tries behind.
But Byrne powered over for Bristol’s third try, converted by MacGinty, with Van Wyk then sent off for his challenge on Genge, leaving Tigers permanently down to 14 players.
And Bristol drew level when Ibitoye touched down following outstanding work by Genge, with MacGinty’s conversion denying Leicester the win.
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