By David Hibell
May 13 2003

It was a thrilling game of rugby but in the end the Irish were the victors securing their place in the league with five tries to two.

Irish started the game on the attack forcing a line out in the Bristol 22, a grubber kick through was hacked into the dead ball area

by Shane Drahm and the Irish were awarded a 5 yard scrum.  The ball was moved left from the scrum and the Bristol defence forced them into touch, the ball went loose from the line out but was reclaimed & kicked deep by Daryl Gibson, Horak at full back fielded the ball but the Bristol defence were on him in an instant and collared him forcing the Irish to concede a penalty 45 yards out in the centre of the field.  Bristol had been in the Irish half once and Drahm continuing with the kicking duties made sure they got points for it, 4 minutes gone and 3-0 to Bristol.

The restart was kicked straight to Gus and this time was cleared to half way, Irish turned the ball over and Drahm was up to fly half, he fed Felipe who had his clearance charged down, Michael Lipman went back to tidy up possession but the ref blew for an advantage played for a knock on.  Ball from the resulting scrum was cleared to touch and Scott Morgan claimed their ball, a penalty was awarded at the resulting ruck and a fantastic kick by Shane from a fairly tight angle saw the ball go into touch on their five yard line.  Bristol attacked from the line out and managed to cross the Irish line but the ball was held up and a five yard scrum was awarded in the outside centre channel on the right of the pitch.  The ball was moved left and the chance spurned as Shane knocked on trying a quick tap pass on to the wing after a half break by Felipe. 

The scrum was routine with Irish clearing the ball into touch 30 yards out and this was probably our best period of the whole match with wave after wave of Bristol attacks leading to Craig Short being put into space on the right wing to score, with Shane converting to make it 10-0 after quarter of an hour.  If only games were only fifteen minutes long we'd have beaten Wasps and Northampton as well!

Bristol's clearance kick from the restart was charged down again, but David Rees was alert to the danger and collected the ball, though Irish were soon to attack down the right, Bristol's defence held firm and the point of attack was quickly switched to the left with a huge overlap out wide but it wasn't needed as Naka Drotske managed to force his way over the line  by the posts with about half the Bristol team on top of him, Mapletoft had no problems with the conversion and Irish were right back in it at 7-10.

Bristol restarted with a kick that hung in the air for ages, Irish managed to gain possession but their clearance kick went out on the full, Daryl Gibson was high tackled from the resulting line out and Drahm soon found himself lining up another penalty attempt in front of the posts to make it 7-13 after 22 mins.

There was a period of open play now with both sides looking to run the ball and mistakes started to creep in, there was a lovely break by one of the lads - my notes say scything run by AG but I have no idea who AG is now!  As the half hour approached Gus knocked on deep in the Irish 22 when the Irish cover defence was up on him after a Daryl Gibson had taken the ball on from an Irish line out that they won but which Michael Lipman reacted to quickest and Irish were able to hack the ball on to their own 10 yard line to clear the danger.  

Just past the half hour and an Irish line out move throwing short worked beautifully, Drotske ran through the forwards, shipped the ball left and there appeared to be a 4 on 3 overlap, seeing Bristol's drift defence covering across the Irish player cut inside and out before sending Rob Hoadley through, he had a back row player to beat, duly did, Mapletoft converted and Irish were in front for the first time 14-13.

Worse was to follow, Bristol lost possession from the restart and Emiliano Bergamasci was spotted offside on his own 10 yard line, Mapletofts penalty was good and Irish were 17-13 up, Irish raised there game at this point, and had a period of sustained pressure which saw a huge overlap which was spurned at first before the ball was moved left and Paul Sackey was able to put Geoff Appleford over in the corner for Mapletoft to convert again.

Half time and Bristol were 24-13 adrift with it all to do.

The second half started with both teams content to play aerial ping pong for a bit and it was Irish who broke the deadlock and ran the ball, again overlaps were appearing for them but Bristol managed to force the turnover though they seemed to be committing too many men to the breakdown, the combination of slow ball and lack of numbers out wide meant that Irish were able to defend easily.  They forced a turnover, attacked down the left wing with a 5 on 2 overlap, Mapletoft straightened his line of running but fortunately for us a last ditch forced the error. 

Slow ball on Bristol's next possession again saw Irish able to reorganise their defence and force us backwards, Peter Thorburn brought Richard Skuse on for Emi and he was straight into the action with an Irish scrum.  Seeing the Bristol backs up quickly Mapletoft intelligently chipped ahead over the centres and Irish had a chance for a fourth try but they knocked on and Bristol were able to clear their lines.  Bristol claimed the line out but again handling let them down and they knocked on trying to force the game, but the ball was turned over from the scrum and Irish were penalised 47 yards out to the right, Shane stepped up and reduced the deficit slightly to 24-16 with 38 minutes remaining.  Paul Johnson appeared to have been struggling with a knock for a little while and it was no surprise to see him replaced by Saul Nelson at this point.

The restart was cleared by Bristol but Irish won the line out and moved the ball upfield, Mapletoft positioned himself in the pocket behind the ruck and saw his drop goal attempt rebound off the right upright.  The Irish backs had to reorganise at this time as Rob Hoadley who had been on the floor since the restart was replaced by Barry Everitt who came on to play at fly half with Mapletoft moving to the centres.  It didn't seem to alter the Irish game plan and they kept attacking and after several phases Felipe was penalised for deliberately knocking on going for another 80 yard interception and Mapletoft made it 27-16 with 20 minutes to go.

Bristol knew they had to score and score quickly but started to play as individuals rather than as a team and though they struggled manfully they were not able to break through, awarded a penalty Gus took a quick tap , fed Felipe who took the ball on but ran out of support, Irish were able to hack on as the move broke down and Paul Sackey, having an excellent game, was able to fly hack on and beat the covering Andrew Higgins to the ball, Mapletoft again converting it was now 34-16.

Phil Christophers was prominent now and Bristol really started to take the game to the Irish but again Irish defended heroically with a team effort on Sherridan and a cover tackle from Sackey on Rees standing out.  Bristol were playing the game in the Irish half now and Irish appeared happy to sit back and defend and kick away possession when they had it. 

A moment of individual brilliance from Felipe was one of the few remaining highlights for us, after chipping ahead he managed to tidy the ball up on the floor twisting his body like a contortionist to ensure he kept control with two Irish players bearing down on him.

Irish had time for one more score  in the 81st minute with ex Bristol player Michael Horak obviously enjoying his score before Craig Short popped up at the death with his second try.

 After the game Peter Thorburn spoke well about his sadness for the fans and the uncertainty adding he didn't know anything about the merger that would mean the demise of Bristol but believed that somebody would pick up what's left of the club and start wherever they needed to to bring Bristol back as there were too many people deeply passionate about it.

He acknowledged that Irish were too good for us today and deserved the win, asked if Archers absence made a difference he said it was not about one player and that Scott Morgan had played brilliantly again, though he did acknowledge Archers presence on the field as a leader.