Bristol's passion makes a point to humble Bath

Supposedly, Bristol were the ones without a future: no half-decent ground to call their own, no supporter base worth a light, no prospect of financial stability, barely a receptacle in which to relieve themselves. But when it really mattered to them yesterday afternoon, they brought other things to the party – rather important things, like soul and spirit and game-breaking brilliance in the face of extinction.

And by delivering an emotionally-charged performance immeasurably more passionate than anything they had produced in a decade, they made out the most convincing of cases for their continued existence.

As things stand, they are unlikely to be with us come September. They will be Bath, more or less, for the two clubs – or rather, their respective owners – are a long way down the road to agreeing a merger wholly dominated by the former European champions. The idea has not been well received by the supporters of either team, to put it mildly; the petitions were flying around Ashton Gate long before kick-off, and by the time the record crowd of 20,793 had vacated the bars and wedged themselves into their plastic seats, every last one of them was feeling rabidly political. But who gives a tinker's for the paying public when there is money to be made and Premiership security to be purchased?

There are two calculations to be made in light of this spellbinding contest, one to do with relegation and the other to do with hard business. The first is fourth-form stuff: Bath, three points adrift of London Irish at the foot of the table, will certainly finish bottom if they fail to beat Newcastle at the Recreation Ground next weekend, and may well need a bonus-point victory to give themselves an earthly of avoiding that unspeakable indignity. How the mighty are fallen.

And the second? Far more difficult. In one way, this was a good result for Malcolm Pearce, the Bristol owner who covets the Bath name, for relegation either way would accelerate the momentum towards a merger. In another sense, though, it was a terrible outcome. How in the name of all that is holy can Pearce now hope to sell his deal to the Bristol sporting public? It would be easier to sell sand to the Syrians. His team won fair and square yesterday, and with the Ashton Gate stadium company keen to host as much rugby as it can lay its hands on, Pearce will almost certainly come under pressure to sell his interest to a local consortium committed to maintaining the Bristol name.

"I think Malcolm probably feels a little awkward right now," said Peter Thorburn, the Bristol coach, with a smile fairly soaked in irony. The two men had barely exchanged a word since the turn of the year, and were not in the closest of contact in the run-up to this fixture. "Has Malcolm told the coaches and players what is happening? No, he has not, and we haven't asked him," the New Zealander continued. "He left a message on my mobile this morning, and we said 'good day' before the game. That's it." And the result? "Being the negative bastard I'm always made out to be, I have to say we're not out of trouble yet. But that was a great performance in adversity. I've been involved in massive All Blacks matches that were not as charged as that."

Denied the hard-edged presence of Garath Archer, who withdrew with a back injury, Bristol started scratchily and looked in serious danger of being run off their feet when David Barnes and Jonathan Humphreys worked Gavin Thomas over for an opening Bath try at the end of the first quarter. Yet the home side reached the interval on terms, thanks to Shane Drahm's confident kicking into the wind and a close-range finish from the magnificent Daryl Gibson, whose midfield heroics rubbed off on his less experienced partner, Andrew Higgins.

The balance had tilted towards the locals, and with Michael Lipman running the show in the loose – if there has been a more decisive performance from an open-side flanker this season, it remains a closely-guarded secret – they began to bring their forward muscle to bear on the proceedings. A long attack sparked by David Rees and orchestrated by Agustin Pichot ended with Felipe Contepomi scoring near the posts, and when the Argentinian outside-half intercepted Gareth Cooper's pass and ran 90 metres down the left for a second try on 71 minutes, the die was cast.

Bath summoned a reply of sorts when the Bristol defence opened up suffificiently for Kevin Maggs to claim an injury-time score, but when Drahm hit the spot with a drop-goal from fully 50 metres, the visitors saw the solace of a bonus point snatched away. It seems only the businessmen can save them now.

Scorers: Bristol: Tries Contepomi 2, Gibson. Conversions Drahm 3. Penalties Drahm 2. Drop goal Drahm. Bath: Tries G Thomas, Maggs. Conversions Barkley 2. Penalties Barkley 2.

Bristol: S Drahm; D Rees, A Higgins, D Gibson (capt), P Christophers (M Shaw 79); F Contepomi, A Pichot; A Sheridan, P Johnstone (S Nelson 76), E Bergamaschi (R Skuse 72), S Morgan, A Brown, C Short, M Lipman, R Oakley.

Bath: I Balshaw; E Seveali'i, M Tindall, K Maggs, T Voyce; O Barkley, G Cooper; D Barnes, J Humphreys (A Long 74), J Mallett (M Stevens 62), S Borthwick, D Grewcock (capt), A Beattie, G Thomas (J Scaysbrook 70), N Thomas (D Lyle 53).

Referee: A Rowden (Berkshire).