After a well observed minutes silence at the Memorial Ground Bristol kicked off after changing the ball.  It was poorly taken by Nottingham, but they just about managed to clear to touch.  Bristol came away with the lineout ball and drove into the Nottingham 22.  The ball was chipped over the defence, in the knowledge that advantage was being played.  Taking the penalty, Bristol took the bold option and went for touch and a 5 metre lineout.  Nottingham were penalised as Bristol drove and again Bristol went to touch.  This time Bristol were penalised and Nottingham were able to clear the danger.  However, as they attempted to kick for distance it was charged down and they were forced to infringe in order to contain the menace.  Once again Bristol went for touch, a real statement of intent, but Nottingham turned Bristol over and this time were able to get the ball downfield.

Luke Arscott took the ball well and it was quickly out to the right wing were something happened to cause a bout of fisticuffs and a penalty to Bristol.  Bristol tried to attack but a forward pass halted the move.  Nottingham were able to edge into the Bristol half and Bristol were penalised at the ruck.  Tonks was spot on with his long range penalty kick and it was 0 - 3 with 12 minutes played.  Bristol looked a bit shaky at this point and kicked out on the full after passing back into the 22.  Nottingham went through a few phases but Bristol were able to contain the threat and then come away with the ball.  A brief kicking duel ensued, with the advantage going to Bristol.  Bristol were penalised and Nottingham made a good touch just outside the Bristol 22.  Adrian Jarvis missed a tackle as Nottingham attacked.  Desperate defence managed to halt the dangerous move.  Bristol went offside at the breakdown and it was Nottingham's turn to go for the 5 metre lineout.  Their drive was halted and the ball was moved out to midfield where strong Bristol defence forced the turnover.  Sensing an opportunity Bristol attacked out on the right wing but gave away a penalty that was very poorly received by the darksiders.  Forced to move the ball back from the initial, optimistic, position, Tonks was well off target with his kick.

Jack Adams made a good break into the Nottingham half, but failed to see two supporting runners outside which would have created an overlap.  Still, Bristol kept the pressure on the visitors and they were finally penalised for offside.  Again Bristol took the enterprising option and took the scrum.  Nottingham struggled to contain the power of the Bristol pack and Dan Montagu was able to take the ball up from the base of the scrum.  The ball was flipped out by Larscott and Adams was just able to hold onto the ball over his left shoulder and he crossed for the game's first try.  Jarvis converted well and Bristol had justified their penalty choice by taking a 7 - 3 lead.

Bristol put themselves under pressure with some sloppy play right from the restart but just managed to escape.  However, it handed the territory and control of the ball to Nottingham.  Bristol gave away a penalty at the scrum and Tonks narrowed the gap to 7 - 6 just five minutes after Bristol had scored.  Bristol took a surprising quick throw at a lineout and Adams made good ground into the heart of the Nottingham defence.  The ball went quickly out to Junior Fatialofa but the pass was just too long and sailed into touch.  Nottingham kept themselves on the back foot when they overthrew at the lineout and Jason Spice snapped up the loose ball.  Bristol hammered away at the Nottingham defensive line which was repeatedly offside.  Eventually the referee had enough (or finally noticed) and Hammond went to the naughty step.  Bristol went for the lineout but the throw was way off straight.  Nottingham gave away another penalty and this time, with Nottingham down a man, they went for the scrum.  The strength of the pack was evident and Nottingham were shoved back to the try line.  Montagu made a bit of a hash of the touchdown, but it was of no importance as the referee was already trotting under the posts to award a penalty try, duly converted by Jarvis for a deserved 14 - 6 lead.  With confidence high, Larscott attempted another quick lineout throw, but it created terrible problems for Spice and Bristol were, perhaps, fortunate to escape without conceding further points as the half ended.

The second half started with a fantastic break by Ian Grieve that made twenty or thirty metres.  Nottingham were penalised as Bristol continued to press.  Unsurprisingly Bristol elected to go for touch.  The pack drove towards the line and the ball went out to Spice who seemed to hesitate with an overlap outside him before the ball went to Grieve and then on to Dan Norton who sped over for the try out wide on the left.  Jarvis was unerring and it was 21 - 6 with just 3 minutes of the half gone.  Nottingham tried to strike back but were turned over in midfield.  Neither side could fashion an opportunity at this point, but Bristol had slightly the better of things.  They composed themselves and a lineout saw the ball taken on initially by Adams and then Roy Winters.  Norton tried to break through but was halted only to feed the natural winger (and kicker) Mark Irish who sprinted clear to score in virtually the same spot as Norton.  Jarvis seemed to relish these wide kicks and he extended Bristol's lead to 28 - 6.

Bristol maintained the territorial advantage and Tom Arscott wreaked havoc in the Nottingham ranks with an excellent run that he was unlucky not to score from.  However he was not long to be denied.  A Nottingham lineout was not straight, but Bristol won it anyway with Nathan Budgett competing strongly at the front.   Bristol attacked and Larscott came into the line and launched a kick out to the right hand corner.  It looked as if it might be too long but brother Tarscott had the pace to latch on and go in at the corner.  Jarvis showed that he could convert from either touchline and Bristol had taken the score to 35 - 6.

Nottingham bravely stuck to the task and managed to string together several phases and looked dangerous.  They attempted a kick of their own into the corner but this was too long and the ball went dead.  In many ways Nottingham looked the sharper side now, but a lack of composure meant they lacked the patience to inflict the final blow.  A rash of replacements from both sides probably did nothing to help the pattern of the game.  Bristol gave away a lax penalty and Nottingham went for touch, getting the ball quickly away from the lineout before a poor pass halted the momentum.  Bristol had transgressed though, and try scorer Irish took the walk of shame.  In their desperation to put Bristol under pressure and take advantage of their numerical superiority Nottingham kicked the penalty dead.  Despite this let off, Bristol were made to work hard as Nottingham kept hold of possession.  Their play was far too lateral and Bristol were able to absorb the pressure.  For a brief instant, indeed, it looked as Bristol breakaway would threaten Nottingham, but they managed to survive and get quickly back into the Bristol 22.

With the minutes ticking away Nottingham mounted another attack and the ball went to fullback Savage.  He was on the receiving end of a savage, but entirely legitimate, tackle from his opposite number that left him winded and virtually unable to contribute to the remainder of the match.  "He came as a fullback.  He left as a tackle bag" was the comment from behind me.  Despite this equalisation of the numbers continued to attack and their pressure told when they broke through out wide.  Tonks was unable to match Jarvis' fluency so the match ended at 35 - 11.

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