Bristol prop Alex Clarke celebrates in the face of Saints fly half Stephen Myler after he had missed with his last second drop goal © Getty Images

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Matches: Bristol Bears 14 - 13 Northampton Saints

Teams: Bristol Bears | England | Northampton Saints

Richard Hill claimed Bristol season's would have been "virtually dead" had they not ended a demoralising run of Premiership defeats.

The Bristol boss watched his team overcome a six-point deficit to pip Northampton 14-13 and claim their first league victory since March. Bristol remain bottom of the table but are now just one point behind reigning champions Wasps.

Hill said: "The win will do us a lot of good, it will provide a spring in the step. If we had lost then the season was virtually dead. It would have been hard to come back from, but we are fighters in this type of situation.

"We just needed to get on the right side of the scoreline. It was probably a good old-fashioned Bristol win; we rolled up our sleeves and showed a lot of grit."

Second-half substitute Shaun Perry was at the heart of Bristol's victory push, making his first appearance since undergoing shoulder surgery in August. The England international was a constant thorn in Northampton's side, and Hill added: ``We've missed Shaun.

"He just lifts everyone around him and you could see the difference after he went on."

Replacement centre Luke Eves' 69th-minute try, converted by his midfield partner Ed Barnes, saw Bristol home, although Saints could have snatched it in injury-time, but fly-half Stephen Myler's drop-goal attempt drifted agonisingly wide. Number eight Dan Ward-Smith scored a close-range try in the first half, which Adrian Jarvis converted, while centre James Downey touched down for Northampton, with Myler slotting two penalties and a conversion.

Saints rugby director Jim Mallinder said: "In the end, we had a defensive lapse, which was unfortunate. We seemed to get our numbers wrong and it was very disappointing to concede a try from first-phase possession.

"It is gutting. We knew it would be a tight game, and so it proved. At 13-7 ahead we knew the next score could be decisive but we didn't get it, even though we created a few chances. We have got to regroup now and be ready for next weekend's game against Bath."