With the wind behind them, Pirates kicked off when the ball eventually appeared.  Adrian Jarvis cleared to touch for the first lineout which was well won by Pirates.  This was a false omen as their lineout was under a great deal of pressure subsequently.  Pirates' fly-half made a great run that was only just halted.  Bristol gave away a penalty and Cook kicked well to take an early 0 - 3 lead.  The Bristol restart went out on the full but Pirates were penalised at the scrum on the centre spot.  Learning his lesson, Jarvis made an excellent touch.  Bristol put in the old catch-and-drive but the maul crabbed infield and Jarvis was forced to chip into the 22.  Pirates failed to deal with the ball, but equally Bristol failed to capitalise.  It was no matter because Bristol had the penalty for Pirates going offside (an offence the referee could have been more stringent about).  Jarvis made no mistake to equalise the score after five minutes.

Pirates tried to take the ball back to Bristol but an accurate kick out to the left wing was spectacularly knocked on.  Lee Robinson ran powerfully down his wing, but poor passing from the ruck simply transferred the problem into midfield.  Jarvis rescued the situation with a good touchfinder.  The Pirates' lineout was stolen and Bristol made good ground before Pirates were penalised for offside.  Although a kickable chance Bristol took the bolder option of going for touch on the five metre line.  The pack drove for the line and Iain Grieve, spotting a gap in the defence, broke away from the back of the maul to go over for a converted try.  10 - 3 with ten minutes gone.

My notes for a little while here are a bit difficult to read as the rain came down more heavily!  What is clear is that Bristol failed to kick on from this well worked score.  Another Pirates' lineout was pulled up for a not square throw.  A Jarvis kick into the Pirates' 22 was far too long and easily marked.  Yet another Pirates' lineout went awry but Junior Fatialofa was unable to blast his way through when the ball went out to the backs.  Bristol looked very tentative at this point and Pirates started to apply some pressure.  A rare successful Pirates' lineout allowed them to drive into the Bristol defence which was just able to hold firm.  Jarvis was given few options and his clearing kick simply allowed the Pirates to keep probing the Bristol defence.  A fine break from Cowan, which Jason Spice failed to cover, took him close to the line.  Some good offloading out of the tackle looked to set up a certain try but defenders managed to hold the ball up.  Bristol were penalised at the five metre scrum and Pirates edged closer when the kick went over for a 10 - 6 scoreline.

A miserable and inconclusive kicking duel followed before Robinson attempted to get Bristol moving rather more constructively.  Play was switched back across the pitch and Pirates came offside to allow Jarvis to make another excellent touch.  However his kick following the lineout was a complete mess and it was difficult to tell if it was a drop goal attempt or a chip into the 22.  Still, Bristol upped the pressure.  Dan Norton was freed by a skilful Jarvis' kick and the defence struggled to force him into touch.  Concerted attacks saw Bristol hammer away at the visitors and Luke Eves, largely anonymous for much of the match, broke into a gap in the defensive line.  Play went right when there was a clear overlap out left and the promising move broke down.  Robinson tried to burst through in midfield but lacked support and the ball was turned over.  This let Pirates off the hook and they briefly threatened as Bristol gave away a long penalty chance.  The kick had the range but was just wide.

Bristol struggled to make any headway as the half drew to a close. Poor ball retention allowed Pirated to easily contain any danger before Robinson made some ground and a crossfield kick came close to giving Norton a chance.  The score stood at 10 - 6 when the whistle blew, but a small bout of fisticuffs then broke out to ensure the referee stayed on the pitch.

The wind dropped away in the second half, becoming absolutely still for the last ten minutes.  So, if Bristol had hoped to gain an advantage from the elements they were sorely disappointed.  In any event they were soon on the attack and James Phillips made a fierce run into the Pirates' midfield defence.  He popped up again later in the move but Bristol's hopes were dashed as they gave away a penalty that Pirates smartly took to relieve the pressure. 

Bristol looked very disjointed and a kick out on the full was symptomatic of their problems.  Fortunately Pirates were unable to take advantage of the hosts' lack of fluency as their lineout continued to malfunction.  A Pirates supporter commented about Ross Johnston's "comfort blanket" when he dried the ball, but it was their hooker who really need one!  Bristol did gain territory from another of Jarvis' excellent touch kicks but sadly resorted to the crossfield kick when surely it would have been better to keep the ball in hand?  This simply gifted Pirates unearned possession and they made full use of it by kicking the ball the length of the field well into the Bristol 22.  Bristol secured the lineout but Spice's attempted box kick was easily charged down, leaving Jarvis to scramble his kick into touch.

Pirates were awarded a penalty, despite their 6 joining the ruck on the Bristol side!  With ten minutes of the half gone Pirates narrowed the gap to 10 - 9.  Undoing their good work they then gave away a penalty of their own that allowed Jarvis to restore the gap to 13 - 9.   The Bristol pack then pushed into the heart of the defence and sucked in the cover.  Pirates gave away another penalty that Jarvis sent to touch.  Good forward play saw a further penalty go to Bristol as the Pirates maul fractured.  Jarvis, atoning for his place-kicking woes of last week, was spot on for 16 - 9 just before the hour.

Bristol looked to have finally found a way through the spirited defensive line but were called back for crossing despite there being no defender in a position to tackle.  The Pirates' lineout throw was again off target but Bristol were penalised at the scrum.  Pirates went for touch but this time the throw was even further off!  However Bristol repeated their earlier scrum offence to hand Pirates an eminently kickable penalty.  It duly was kicked and the score stood at 16 - 12 with 67 minutes on the clock.   Bristol struggled to handle the mental pressure of the situation and lacked the composure and patience to take play back to the Pirates.  A knock-on on halfway gave Pirates a scum at which Bristol were once more penalised.  Pirates failed to make touch and Bristol returned the kick.  It was still a Pirates' lineout, but that hardly conferred any advantage now and they duly knocked-on.

A dispiriting and dim-witted bout of kicking followed from both sides, only concluding when Robinson managed to kick the ball dead from his own five metre line (actually it was almost a very good kick with only a rather strange bounce taking it away from touch, but it just about summed up the pointlessness of the preceding efforts).  However, with the score so close, this took play right up to the Bristol line.  Pirates strove to get over the line to secure what might prove to be the winning points but were just held out.  A penalty went their way and they elected for touch.  Given the flaky state of their lineout this was a daring decision, although a penalty kick would not have given them the win and they already had a losing bonus point.  Bristol drove the Pirates back from the lineout were able to breathe a bit easier.  With the clock showing 82 minutes it was finally Bristol's turn to bungle a lineout.  The ball came back on the Bristol side from the resulting scrum and Bristol launched a somewhat disorganised attack that somehow scratched its way into the Pirates' half.  They were penalised and with the final kick of the game Jarvis completed an immaculate kicking display for a final score of 19 - 12.

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