Bristol boss Richard Hill has said their season would have been 'virtually dead' had they not beaten Northampton on Sunday .
Defeat would have left us 'virtually dead' says coach
Bristol boss Richard Hill has said their season would have been 'virtually dead' had they not beaten Northampton on Sunday.
Hill's side fought back from a six-point deficit to take victory over Northampton by a single point.
Bristol remain bottom of the Guinness Premiership despite the 14-13 win but the result has enabled them to close the gap on champions Wasps to a single point.
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."
Defensive lapse
Hill singled out the return to action of Shaun Perry, who came on in the second half for his first appearance since undergoing shoulder surgery in August and was instrumental in Bristol's revival.
"We've missed Shaun," Hill added. "He just lifts everyone around him and you could see the difference after he went on."
Saints rugby director Jim Mallinder said he was disappointed with the result.
"In the end, we had a defensive lapse, which was unfortunate," he said.
"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."
