Contrasting conditions from the earlier pool game gave an even more emphatic victory to Cardiff despite valiant efforts from Bristol.  Two tries just before half time undid Bristol and there was no way back as conditions deteriorated. 

Bristol looked to have got on the scoreboard early when good work initially from the pack was followed up by Anthony Elliott, who looked sharp throughout, offloading out of the tackle to set Luke Arscott, another good performer, free to go over.  I thought at the time it was a fortunate try as the final pass looked well forward and unfortunately the touch judge noticed although referee Roland initially gave the try.  Sadly it was to prove Bristol's only real chance of the entire match as Cardiff went on to dominate the half.  A good move from the visitors was also adjudged to have ended with a forward pass.  Blair also surprisingly hit the right-hand upright with what looked a straightforward chance to let Bristol off the hook. 

Cardiff pressure eventually told when Bristol failed to control the ball at a 5 metre scrum and Molitika, a handful throughout, seized the ball and powered over.  Blair converted to take Cardiff into a 0 -7 lead as the half approached its end.  Bristol, given their lack of ball, would have been happy to have gone in at half time with this score, but Cardiff had other ideas.  Clean lineout ball got the backline moving and they drove close to the line.  Quick ball from the ruck allowed Gareth Thomas, another good performer, to loop round to the left.  Sean Hohneck was handed off as he went too high and it was a crushing blow to Bristol's hopes as Blair converted the try for a 0 - 14 half time lead. 

With the wind behind them Cardiff started the half by kicking long but it was virtually their only kicking error.  They kept Bristol pinned back, whilst too many kicks from Bristol were aimless and allowed Cardiff to take the ball back to their hosts.  Bristol suffered another setback when Neil Brew was injured when held by one player and shoulder charged by Filise. 

Surprisingly, given his comments at the recent Supporters Trust meeting, Richard Hill did not chose to put David Hill on at 12; instead selecting Sam Cox.  Bristol were then harshly penalised and Blair increased the Cardiff lead to 0 - 17.   Bristol now used some replacements with Graeme Beveridge, Scott Linklater and Hill (as fly-half) coming on.  These changes seemed to have some effect with Beveridge looking sharp, hill playing close to the gain line and passing flat and Linklater prominent in the loose.  Unfortunately too often the ball was moving across the field with little progress being made before a poor, or unlucky, kick brought the move to an end.  Handling was good as the fine rain made control of the ball difficult, but errors were inevitable and cost Bristol dear. 

Tom Arscott, in his sterling efforts to make up for an earlier spillage, made some good runs and showed sublime skills to chip over one defender and re-gather before dummying another.  His brother too then made a great catch before breaking tackles and kicking downfield.  The ball need to stay in play but cruelly it rolled meekly into touch.  Beveridge too made a lovely break but with no obvious support he chose to kick ahead and the ball struck the ubiquitous Blair who was able to hoof the ball back into the Bristol half.  Cardiff had  a couple of chances to score the try that would have given them a home quarter final but lacked any real penetration or control.  A penalty from Macleod was kicked to touch but ended up going out in-goal and squandering Cardiff's final opportunity. 

It was disappointing for Bristol but in all honesty apart from the disallowed ‘try' we never really threatened the Cardiff line.  The set-pieces were below par with the lineout, in particular, reverting to earlier fragility.  If so many lineouts had gone wrong on Linklater's throw as with Regan's there are some on this site's messageboard who would have been vociferous in their criticism.  I was not, however, solely down to the hookers as the throws looked to be dead straight (surprisingly) but something was clearly wrong with the planning and execution.  Linklater certainly offered far more in the loose than Regan.  Similarly the scrum was never dominant.  The problem here was I think down to poor refereeing.  The Cardiff 3 was continually scrummaging at almost 90 degrees to the rest (Cardiff could have fitted their flanker into the gap between him and his hooker) and this was very disruptive.  Interestingly he was finally picked up for it at the first scrum of the second half which was the first time the referee was on that side of the scrum.  Without good ball from the set piece any side will struggle. 

Bristol also lost the contest at the breakdown where Martyn Williams, rightly man-of-the-match, was ascendant.  The absence of El Abd until late in the game was surely a factor.  To'oala made a couple of runs and tackles but offered little else to justify selection over El Abd.  I thought that El Abd did a good job at the Arms Park and might have made a difference.  The positives for Bristol were the performance of the back three with Elliott looking good with his limited chances and the brothers Arscott continuing to work well.  Beveridge too looked good when he came on and the unfairly maligned Hill certainly got the backs moving more effectively even if he is a 12 not a 10. 

An unsatisfactory end to Bristol's Heineken Cup campaign with the fine 17 - 0 victory over Stade Francais mirroring this loss to Cardiff.  We move on now to Worcester who have been focussing on this game to get their season back on track.  A loss will drag us back into the relegation struggle but a win will see us comfortable in mid-table with just four home games left in the season.

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