At a chill and sparsely attended Memorial Ground Bristol started positively with some robust running.  All too soon however, the dominant theme of the first half appeared when Ed Barnes kicked possession away.  London Irish looked more threatening in the early exchanges and Bristol came off distinctly second best in the kicking duel; consistently losing ten metres compared with the Irish.  The wind was clearly more of a factor than I initially thought, certainly from the way the second half went.

In any event, Bristol definitely looked more menacing when keeping the ball in hand rather than hand over possession by kicking.  This was illustrated by a powerful run from Lee Robinson, off his wing, and breaking into midfield.  For an instant it looked as if he had a way through but instead he threw out a sloppy one-handed pass that flew well forward.  In fairness perhaps the pass was called for, but it certainly ended poorly.  Bristol struggled to find a way through but gave away penalties in crucial areas.  Most worrying were the problems spotted by the referee at the scrum.  Frankly, it looked to me as if the physically mismatched Irish front row kept standing up, but the officials clearly saw it otherwise.  A penalty just a few metres out saw ‘even paler than Lee Robinson' Hewat take Irish to a 0 - 3 lead.  He soon followed this up with another successful attempt to extend the lead to 0 - 6.

The Irish Pacific contingent looked aggressive and helped the visitors to get over the gain line and release the runners out on the wings.  Well organised defence saw them kept out before another aimless Bristol kick allowed Tagicakibau to dart round Robinson and leave Shaun Perry floundering.  He went over untouched for an unconverted try and a 0 - 11 lead with half an hour played.  This lapse apart Bristol defended manfully for the remainder of the half and did enough to keep Irish at bay.

The second half witnessed an almost complete turnaround in the performances.  Bristol's tactical kicking was more accurate sparing.  The wind obviously was significant, but Barnes used it to telling effect and so did others.  First a long range penalty effort was confidently struck to narrow the gap to 3 - 11.  Soon the score looked even healthier when David Lemi, inevitably, wove his way into the heart of the Irish defence.  The ball was taken on by the forwards, including a rather surprised looking Alex Clarke. Barnes then kicked the ball intelligently out to the right wing where Robinson sped onto it and rose above the defender.  He smartly palmed the ball back infield, totally wrong-footing the defence.  Luke Eves was on hand to score another try following his effort against Northampton.  He has a way to go to equal his father's record though!  The try was well converted and Bristol now trailed by just a single point: 10 - 11.

An excellent kick from Luke Arscott took play well into the Irish 22.  The forwards drove the ball on and Irish, desperate to slow the ball down were penalised at the ruck.  For an instant it looked as if Perry would take a quick tap penalty but fortunately wiser counsel prevailed and Barnes slotted over the kick to take Bristol into the lead for the first time in the match.  At this point Irish were looking ragged and had scarcely had the ball or even got into the Bristol half.  So it was a stunning blow when a horribly telegraphed Barnes pass was intercepted by Geraghty who raced away to score under the posts.  Hewat converted to take Irish back in front at 13 - 18.  Bristol attempted to galvanise themselves fro one final effort with time ticking away.  They worked their way back into the Irish 22 and, once again Irish gave away a penalty at the ruck.  With about 5 minutes left Bristol opted to kick for touch rather than for points.  It was a bold decision but surely a successful kick would have set Bristol up for the chance to take back the lead with another penalty or drop goal?  In any event Bristol gave away a penalty of their own to allow Irish off the hook.

This was a match Bristol should, on the second half performance, have won.  Essentially London Irish only went into the Bristol half on one occasion with the interception try.  On that performance it is hard to see any real difference between a side at the top of the table and one at the bottom.  The first half, on the other hand, was a dismal effort with poor decision making and shocking kicking.  Let us hope that Bristol can take on the second half performance and learn the lessons of the first.

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