Paul Hull has promised that his Bristol Rugby players will keep their feet firmly on the ground despite yesterday's stunning win at Exeter sending them top of the Championship.

Hull's men will finish 2009 on top of the table after their 25-16 bonus-point win at the home of the previous leaders.

Tries from David Blaney, Tom Arscott, Roy Winters and James Phillips gave Bristol a seventh straight league win – and sent them four points clear of Exeter at the top of the pile.

And head coach Hull has challenged his players to continue their excellent form into 2010 – when promotion to the Guinness Premiership will be decided via the play-offs.

"It's still going to come down to the play-offs – but we wanted to come to Exeter and keep our momentum going," said Hull.

"We're not fully there with our gameplan yet, but we're growing as a team and this is a massive step in the right direction for us.

"It's always good to win these type of pressure games at this stage of the season – and we're a different team now to the one we were at the start.

"We want to keep building and we're a very grounded team – we're not going to get carried away with this. Having said that, we're exactly where we wanted to be at the end of 2009.

"I told the players in the changing room that they should be proud of themselves – and that we're proud as coaches. We've asked some big questions of them this season – and we've come a long way.

"It's been a turbulent year for us and there has been a lot of change at the club, but we wanted to finish this year on a high and we've done that – we're top of the league."

Exeter won their first 13 Championship matches this season, while Bristol lost twice in their opening eight games.

But the tables have turned in recent weeks, with Bristol claiming 34 points from a possible 35 since their surprise loss at Doncaster in October. Exeter have now lost two games in a row, losing their grip on the top of the table in the process.

Hull, however, is merely focusing on Friday's home league clash with Cornish Pirates, who enjoyed a stunning seven-try victory over Plymouth yesterday.

"The next time we play Exeter, it will be a completely fresh start and you don't take what's happened in the past, you only look forward," said Hull.

"We're obviously very pleased and we'll take the victory today - but on Monday and Tuesday we'll start preparing for the next game.

"The crucial thing now is to get another win so we consolidate our position at the top of the table. We need to back this performance up with another performance – because a lot of hard work will go to waste if we don't turn up and deliver on Friday."

One player who is likely to miss Friday's game is full-back Luke Arscott. He limped off yesterday with a recurrence of a hamstring problem and will be assessed today.