Bristol were dealt an early blow when Adrian Jarvis was hit rather late as he kicked.  The penalty went Bristol's way, but it was scant consolation as Jarvis hobbled from the field.  ‘Quins monopolised the early possession and territory, forcing Bristol to live off scraps.  However the Bristol defence looked secure throughout the opening quarter and the visitors only reward was a penalty for Malone which went hopelessly wide.  So it was against the run of play when Bristol took the lead.

Lee Robinson made a typically powerful run down the right wing to the edge of the 22 and it took three defenders to bring him to a halt.  Support was there and play went into the 22 and edged into midfield.  The move came to a halt, but Bristol had the scrum put-in.  In an attacking move that had the hallmark of a training pitch move, Neil Brew shifted out onto the left wing and David Lemi moved inside to take the ball at the scrum.  Robinson also popped up again in midfield before the forwards got in on the act to flip the ball out to Brew who had the strength to power through the last defender.  It left a tricky touchline conversion for replacement Ed Barnes but he never looked like missing and Bristol led 7 - 0 with their first visit to the opponents' 22.

If Bristol's ruthlessness was atypical, the sight of ‘Quins scoring soon afterwards was all too familiar.  Crowd favourite Gomarsall flicked the ball out to his hooker Botha.  He showed a fine turn of speed and shoved Shaun Perry aside to go over.  Malone was unable to convert, despite having two chances.  He his time and, after starting his run, the ball fell from the kicking tee.  The referee wrongly permitted him to reset the ball and waved back the Bristol players.  Justice was done when the kick swerved widely in the air and went well wide.  Barnes had a chance to extend the Bristol lead with a penalty but missed.  I don't know quite how badly as I was in the loo at the time.  Sorry.  Bristol continued to search for another score before half time but were unable to fashion any real chance.  Still, 7 - 5 at half time was only what Bristol deserved after a generally sound defensive effort and an unusually clinical approach when close to the line.

Unfortunately, the second half saw ‘Quins swiftly nullify the narrow Bristol advantage.  A long kick was poorly defended when allowed to bounce and meant Bristol had a defensive lineout.  Perry attempted to clear the danger with a kick but ended up struggling to get back in position when it failed to make any distance and bounced awkwardly.  He was tackled before he managed to regather the ball and Malone popped the ball up for Strettle to scamper over the line for an unconverted try but a 7 - 10 lead.

Given the increasing wind strength and its direction, it was unsurprising to see ‘Quins attempt to kick the ball at almost every opportunity.  The defence of these punts looked increasingly nervous, with Robinson in particular often out of position (although he was nothing like as bad as the people behind me continued say).  However, they managed to hold out before the game was foolishly disrupted by the sin-binning of props Darren Crompton and his oppo, Jones.  The scrums had been a bit of a mess throughout, but surely the yellow card isn't intended to punish technical infringements in the set piece?  In any event, the scrum soon became irrelevant when Mark Irish was forced from the field by injury and we were treated to the edifying spectacle of uncontested scrums and confusion amongst the touchline officials and coaching staff.

Despite, of perhaps because of, this disruption it was Bristol who edged back in front.  An aimless kick from ‘Quins was fielded by the Bristol player a team would least like to see in that position: Lemi.  He sped down the left win, evading the initial attempted tackle and then neatly chipping two defenders.  He sprinted after the ball and looked set to win the chase before being obstructed by a defender.  The touch judge (or assistant referee) advised his chief and it was a penalty try, duly converted by Barnes for a 14 - 10 lead.

With 10 minutes left, would Bristol have the skill, determination and confidence to hold out or extend the lead?  At first it looked possible, but ‘Quins were able to keep Bristol under pressure and Bristol could not get hold of the ball.  The visitors pounded away and the Bristol defence was shifted from side to side before becoming far too compressed and leaving a huge overlap out on the ‘Quins left wing.  Replacement Monye was the grateful recipient of the final pass which allowed him to trot over unopposed for a try that Malone just managed to convert for a final score of 14 - 17.

The first game of the official post Richard Hill era saw a much improved performance.  It came up short against a team that did just about enough to win.  It was certainly way better than the shambles we saw at the Stoop Memorial Ground earlier in the season, although the weather was oddly similar.  The try for Neil Brew was a practised move that was well executed.  Lemi was, as usual, a potent threat.  This time we saw increased sharpness at the breakdown and a more organised defence.  Our chasing of kicks remains largely poor and lethargic and it is clear to see that we, unsurprisingly, lack confidence.  Some of our younger players took the chance to show their skills; Dave Attwood and, especially, Redford Pennycook (who looked good against Sale last week).  Will we be able to hang onto them with relegation seemingly inevitable?  We have the entertaining visit to the delights of B**h next weekend.  Once they have been brushed aside it's the simple matter of Leicester on Friday 13^th.  No problems there then!  So maybe relegation isn't so inevitable?  Yeah, right.

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