Bristol Bears earned their first victory (35-29) of the campaign by dramatically holding off Benetton Rugby at the death in a Round 3 Investec Champions Cup match.
James Williams crashed over with a great line under the posts as the hosts started strongly.
Benetton Rugby responded minutes later through Rhyno Smith as they spread it wide to beat the blitz.
Before Bears hit back as Keiran Marmion volleyed through and touched down his own kick, with Harry Byrne slotting the extras to make it 14-5.
But yet again Benetton responded, with some great hands and a cross-field kick putting Manuel Zuliani over.**
They then capitalised Santiago Grondona getting a yellow card by spinning it wide for Matt Gallagher to send Benetton into the break 17-14 up.
Max Lahiff was the first scorer of the second half, muscling over from close range to put Bears ahead once again following a rollercoaster first half.
Before Harry Thacker finished a great break and offload from Fitz Harding as the Bears stretched the lead to 28-17 and secured the bonus point.
Kieran Marmion then got his second of the afternoon in the corner as the Bears made it 35-17, but Bautista Bernasconi barged over to keep Benetton's hopes alive shortly after.
And they crossed with three minutes remaining before it was chalked off for blocking and the Bears ran out 35-29 winners.
Scoring:
Bristol Bears: Tries: James Williams, Kieran Marmion, Max Lahiff, Harry Thacker, Kieran Marmion. Conversions: Harry Byrne (5).
Benetton Rugby: Tries: Rhyno Smith, Manuel Zuliani, Matt Gallagher, Bautista Bernasconi, Tommaso Menoncello. Conversions: Tomas Albornoz (2).
Teams
Bristol Bears: 15 Benjamin Elizalde, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 James Williams, 11 Noah Heward, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Joe Owen, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas. Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 George Kloska, 19 Steele Barker, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Rich Lane.
Benetton Rugby: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Matt Gallagher, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Nacho Brex, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (c), 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Giosue Zilocchi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo. Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Simone Ferrari, 18 Enzo Avaca, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Alessandro Izekor, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Leonardo Marin.
