A penalty almost immediately from the kick off allowed Quins to exert pressure in the Bristol twenty-two and despite the attack ending with a knock-on they were awarded a free kick at the scrum that followed. A very sharp Danny Care took the free kick quickly and was through for a try that Jarvis converted.  Encouraged by that success Quins tried to capitalise.  Bristol attempted to respond and were held out by good defence.  A fine attack by Amesbury and Sargeant, with Stegmann and Masson in support, ended in a knock on in the tackle. 

Then as a ball popped out of a ruck it was gathered by Tom Sargeant whose excellent run, with Turner-Hall in support, brought the second Harlequin try after fifteen minutes and with Jarvis converting, a lead of 14 – 0.  That lead was increased when Jarvis also kicked a penalty some ten minutes later. 

At this point Quins appeared to take their foot off the pedal an more unforced errors crept into their game. Bristol increased their attacks with good interplay between forwards and backs. The referee ignored a blatantly forward pass and that allowed former Harlequin, Josh Taumalolo to cross for a good try that Barnes converted.  Four minutes later another good Bristol attack succeeded and another converted try narrowed the score to 17 – 14.  Quins’ response took them deep into Bristol territory where a yellow card for Luke Eves, the Bristol centre, for slowing the ball down at a ruck near the line, was all that remained in the first half.

Despite being reduced to fourteen men Bristol started the second half briskly and with determination.  A missed tackle by Tosh Masson allowed the Bristol winger, Craig Morgan, through for a third try.  The conversion missed, but Quins’ lead had vanished and they were behind 17 – 19.  Bristol tried to keep the pressure on and were causing Quins problems when a free kick taken quickly by an elusive Danny Care saw him break from his own twenty-two.  Tom Sargeant was in support and a couple of passes between him and Care saw the scrum half score his second try of the night under the posts. Jarvis converted and at 24 – 19 Quins were again in the lead.

The Bristol response was immediate as a 40 metre drop goal from Barnes reduced the Quins’ lead to 24 – 22.  But that was the end of the Bristol scoring for the night.    It was not the end of the try scoring for Quins.  Another quick tap from Care allowed Amesbury to break through and score and Seb Jewell, who had replaced Jarvis, added the conversion for 31 –22.

Yet another break by Care at speed and a chip and gather was stopped only a metre from the line and although the forwards drove over the ball was held up.  But two more tries in the last five minutes, for Seb Stegman and Aston Croall that Jewell failed to convert from wide out, extended the lead to a final score of 41- 22.  In the end this had been a good Quins performance and it was nice to be present at a win.

Quins continue a tenuous hold on the top spot in the southern section of the league with Wasps, who took a bonus point win at Gloucester last night, just a point behind but having two games in hand.  Those two games are the postponed matches against Harlequins that are now “must win” games for Quins if they are to reach the final against the winners of the northern section.  The present leaders of that section are Northampton.

Teams: 

Harlequins:
15. Charlie Amesbury, 14. Seb Stegmann, 13. Tosh Masson, 12. Jordan Turner-Hall, 11. Simon Keogh, 10. Adrian Jarvis, 9. Danny Care, 1. Ricky Nebbett, 2. Chris Brooker, 3. John Brooks, 4. Ollie Kohn, 5. James Inglis, 6. George Robson, 7. Tom Sargeant, 8. Phil Davies.
Replacements:  16. Micky Pointing,  17. Aston Croall, 18. Dan Frazier, 19. Chris Yorke, 20. Ryan Manyika, 21. Seb Jewell, 22. Sam Smith. 

Bristol United:
15. Josh Taumalolo, 14. Craig Morgan, 13. Luke Eves, 12. Kevin Maggs, 11. Geg Barden, 10. Ed Barnes, 9. Haydn Thomas,  1. Ray Hogan, 2. Sam Wilkes, 3. Dave Hilton, 4.Dave Attwood, 5. Josh Brown, 6. Redford Pennycock, 7 Chevvy Pennycock, 8. James Phillips.
Replacements: 16. Joe Williams, 17. Jack Steadman, 18 James Stanford, 19. Ian Grieve, 20. Graeme Beveridge, 21. Mike Mangeolles, 22. Tim Stephenson.

Referee: Keith Lewis

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