In overcast and breezy conditions Pirates kicked off.  Adrian Jarvis returned the kick and the Pirates' riposte went out on the full.  Bristol's lineout drive came to naught when they were adjudged to have gone accidentally offside.  Pirates put Bristol under pressure and were rewarded with a penalty chance that Jones sent narrowly wide.  Their efforts to keep Bristol pinned back were confined to several high kicks that were all well covered by Luke Arscott.  Jarvis kicked a penalty to touch inside the Pirates 22 and the ball whipped out from the lineout to the fly-half who delayed his own pass to give Alex Crockett the space to go over for the opening try.  Jarvis failed with his conversion attempt but Bristol led 0 - 5 with ten minutes gone.

Pirates were undeterred and strung together some good moves that failed to greatly trouble the Bristol defence.  A turnover set James Phillips free on a good run but the final pass just eluded the supporting runner, Lee Robinson.  Still, Bristol had the territorial advantage now and Jarvis kicked a penalty down to the Pirates 22 to keep up the pressure.  The familiar catch-and-drive went in and the pack drove over the line to let James Merriman plunge over the line for another unconverted try and a 0 - 10 lead.

Bristol tried to capitalise but a turnover in midfield let the hosts back into the game and they looked dangerous going forward.  Bristol gave away a penalty and a quick tap from Doherty caught Bristol napping and Elloway went over out left for a well converted try and 7 - 10.  Bristol hit back quickly with a fine kick and chase from Luke Arscott who showed good footballing skills.  He fed Junior Fatialofa who went close before the forwards piled in and Phillips claimed the spoils.  Jarvis converted for 7 - 17.  I was soon 7 - 24 when a foolish hand in the scrum gave Bristol a penalty.  Sent to touch it gave the forwards another chance to demonstrate their mauling skills.  Jason Spice picked up close to the line and dotted the ball down for the bonus point try.

Bristol promptly gave away a kickable penalty that Jones duly despatched for 10 - 24.  Any hopes of a Pirates' revival were crushed as the half drew to a close.  A knock-on was smartly picked up by Larscott who fed his brother Tom a marginally forward pass.  A nice run saw him pass on to Phillips for another rampage forward.  The ball went out to Luke Eves who sped over for an unconverted try.   He was quickly back on the scoresheet.  Tarscott took a high kick and made good ground before getting the ball to Fatialofa who powered into the heart of the defence.  Robinson cut a good line in support and he popped the ball into Eves' hands for him to run in untouched.  Jarvis' kick hit the posts but Bristol led 10 - 34 at half time.

Bristol hit the ground running in the second half, scoring virtually immediately.  Fatialofa ripped the ball out of the hands of the Pirates kick-off receiver.  Merriman raced on to the pass and his handoff saw him sprint clear for a converted try and a score of 10 - 41.  Despite being well clear Bristol refused to allow their hosts off the hook and a fine driving maul took play from inside their 22 up to the half way line before Pirates were penalised.  The kick went to touch and the ball was rapidly away from the lineout and Roy Winters took the ball on before neatly offloading to Spice for his second try, ably converted by Jarvis for 10 - 48.

Bravely, Pirates tried to salvage some pride and they edged their way into th Bristol 22 before quick and precise handling gave Winn the merest hint of space and he seized the opportunity to score an unconverted try and a score of 15 - 48.  A yellow card for Fatialofa briefly allowed Pirates into the Bristol 22, but aggressive defence disrupted the attack and Pirates were penalised.  Again the ball was quickly moved away from the lineout to set Bristol's backline free.  Eves made ground before passing to Larscott who, in turn, timed his pass to perfection to allow Robinson to outpace the last defender for another unconverted try: 15 - 53.

The rain finally started to fall heavily as the game entered the final quarter but Bristol continued to attack despite the deteriorating conditions.  Replacement Sam Alford darted close but was penalised for holding on with the support slow to arrive.  With the handling becoming more tricky, errors crept into the game.  Robinson ran powerfully down his wing but his offload, with the defence closing in, was picked up by the Pirates' defender.  Bristol camped down near the Pirates' line and the hosts gave away several penalties at the scrum before replacement Dan Montagu picked up and fell over the line for Bristol's tenth try that was converted by Mark Davies for a final score of 15 - 60.

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