The Falcons attacked in the early stages with some forward moves, and had a semi-chance on the left but dropped the ball and Bristol gained possession.  Bristol then dropped a high ball, but we screwed up the scrum metres from the line and lost the opportunity.

John Rudd then made a good run down the left, and chipped over the defence but as he was thrown into touch the winger had to be temporarily replaced, and it was Bristol who scored the first points of the match with Alfie To’oala taking advantage of some slack tackling to score by the posts, Jason Strange’s conversion making it 7-0.

The hosts took control of the game with some pacy attacking which our backs struggled to contain, and a penalty increased the home lead.  Bristol pretty much took complete control with a try from Brian O’Riordan five minutes before half time, with two Matthew Burke penalties either side at least getting us on the scoreboard.

Strange kicked Bristol further ahead, before the Falcons put together their best spell of play since the first minutes, bolstered by the pace of Tim Visser and Lee Dickson.  Burke hit his next penalty attempt miles wide, but it was God who received a pass on the left to score a try on the hour, and the conversion put us smack in the hunt.

We could have taken the lead not long after with a move brought to the left again, and with two men outside him almost on the tryline, replacement Matt Thompson delayed a pass and the ball was eventually knocked forward with a potentially winning score beckoning.

As it was, another penalty from Strange put Bristol a converted try ahead, and our two chances of the second half proved to be isolated as the hosts closed out the game well for their second win, and our second defeat of the season.

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