But Bristol United are no pushover.  On the contrary, it was Bristol that pushed to good effect. They first rolled a maul for more metres than Quins will want to recall, after Seb Jewell mishandled the ball in his twenty-two and his poor clearance gave Bristol a good attacking option.  Then they camped on the Quins’ line for long minutes until eventually they crossed to score.  Three minutes into the match and the home side led 5 – 0 after Barnes had missed the conversion.

Quins tried to counter and shortly after the restart had a penalty on the Bristol 10- metre line that Jarvis kicked for gaol and missed. Quins continued to try to up the pace and attack and a sharp break by So’oialo was followed by his attempt to chip over the defence.  The kick was a little too far ahead and the Bristol fullback gratefully called for a mark.  Shortly after another fine break by So’oialo nearly put Seb Jewell away down the left wing but he was pushed into touch on the Bristol twenty-two.

Quins continue to fashion attacks and for a second time in as many minutes Seb Jewell found himself bundled into touch.  But on sixteen minutes the attacks finally prospered. A fine break from Will Skinner, resisting would be tacklers and demonstrating great strength, saw the flanker touch down under the posts with three defenders trying to stop his progress. Jarvis duly added the points to give Quins the lead at 5 – 7.

Almost immediately from the restart Quins were on the attack again.  Steve So’oialo again made the break and with the two centres and Jarvis in support, fine handling and off-loading in the tackle as the ball was moved at speed created a two-man overlap on the left and allowed Masson an easy score.  Jarvis succeeded with the more difficult kick for the additional points. 5 – 14 after eighteen minutes.

Bristol’s attempts to counter lacked invention and their reliance was on their heavier pack.  Jarvis missed with a penalty attempt from 42 metres, but Quins’ attacks through their backs increased with some very skilful handling and passing, moving the point of attack cleverly and creating considerable pressure on the home defence. Unfortunately, the pressure was not turned into points as Bristol clung on.

A high tackle by Chris Hala’ufia might well have brought a yellow card.  Instead a warning from the referee and a penalty kicked by Ed. Barnes narrowed the score by three points as the half hour ticked past.  But only four minutes later, Quins replied with a similar three points to restore the lead to 8 – 17 only to see yet another penalty kick allow Bristol to pull the score at half-time back to 11 – 17.

There were the usual and inevitable substitutions through the second half.  With no held from those in the know, it was difficult to follow the changes.  Danny Care came on for Steve So’oialo and it was not long before he made his presence felt.  About fifteen minutes had elapsed of the second half when a characteristic break by Care produced the try of the match, as he fed Seb Jewell who in turn gave Adrian Jarvis a fine pass allowing him to outrun the defence and score from forty metres.  Jarvis duly added the conversion to increase the lead to 11 – 24.

Bristol tried hard to increase their pace and attacks and Quins were caused to defend strongly.  A series of lineouts and scrums deep in the Quins’ twenty-two saw the Bristol pack cause havoc at the set piece and although the danger was cleared more than once, the home side were scenting a score.  From an attacking lineout they produced quick ball and quick movement to the left a created a four-man overlap and a try for Iain Grieve.  Barnes missed the conversion and again the gap narrowed to what was to be the final score of 16 – 24. 

Bristol tried hard in the last five minutes to achieve a further score but were held back in their own half by a reasonably street-wise Quins team who closed the match out for a good victory.

Teams:

Bristol United: 1 Ray Hogan, 2 Scott Linklater, 3 Dave Hilton, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 Josh Brown,  6 Iain Grieve, 7 Redford Pennycook, 8 James Phillips, 9 Hayden Thomas, 10 Ed Barnes, 11 Tom Williams, 12 Greg Barden, 13 Luke Eves, 14 Craig Morgan, 15 Luke Arscott.

Replacements: Ryan Prosser, Chaz Meddick, Gareth Llewellyn, Gareth Griffiths, etc.

Harlequins:

1 Aston Croall, 2 Chris Brooker, 3 Ricky Nebbett, 4 James Percival, 5 Nicolas Spanghero, 6 Tom Guest, 7 Will Skinner, 8 Chris Hala'ufia, 9 Steven So'oialo, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 11 Seb Stegmann, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 13 Tosh Masson, 14 Simon Keogh, 15 Seb Jewell.

Replacements: 16 Micky Pointing, 17 Dan Frazier, 18 James Inglis, 19 Phil Davies, 20 Danny Care,  21 Tom Sargeant, 22 Charlie Amesbury. 

Referee: J.P. Doyle

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• November 2007 at Harlequins
• Tries Scored 2007/8

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