By Duncan Wood
August 24 2002

Strange sort of game. Bristol looked very threatening at times and ran in 3 good tries. They could have scored about 8 but for poor finishing and nearly lived to regret it when Vale came close in the final stages.

Bristol struggled at times to overcome a spirited Ebbw Vale side this afternoon. The Welshman defended resolutely and were happy to concede penalties to prevent continuity of possession.

Bristol were seemingly determined to move the ball wide from teh off and Lee Best made one promising break which was brought to a halt by an infringement in the forwards.

Bristol were dominating possession and territory from very early on but struggled to turn this advantage into points. Shane Drahm very nearly wriggled over after good work from the forwards but knocked on when a yard or so short.

The forwards maintained the pressure, however, and after a powerful lineout catch and drive, Agustin Pichot's long pass to Shane Drahm gave the Australian enough room to jink his way over. His conversion from wide on the left was spot on and, after 10 minutes, Bristol led 7-0.

The game was very stop start and there was little fluency. Bristol were alomost guilty of trying too hard and snatching at chances. Martin Shaw made a scything break but threw his scoring pass straight into touch with a try begging to be scored.

Andrew Sheridan stole the ensuing lineout and the Shoguns' forwards drove powerfully for the line only to lose the ball forward as they went over.

The second try wasn't long in coming though. A lineout on the Vale 22 produced clean ball off the top. Pichot found Drahm whose long ball put Brendon Daniel in space in the outside centre channel. He went through the gap untouched for a well worked try. Drahm's conversion was hooked slightly to the left so the score remained at 12-0.

Daniel was looking really lively and, on the half hour, he fielded a loose clearance kick and ran it back with interest. He had support on either side as he drew the final man but again the final pass went astray.

Bristol rued the missed chances a few minutes later when former Bristol skipper Jon Evans forced his way over from close range. It was a rare excursion into Bristol territory by the Welshmen although they retained possession well through several rucks to create the score.

The story of the first half continued as the half time whistle approached when Andrew Sheridan reached for the line only to knock on as he looked set to score. 12-5 at half time.

Bristol rang the changes at half time and brought on Alex Brown, Matt Salter and Julian White. All three forwards were making their playing comebacks after surgery.

But it was Ebbw Vale who drew first blood when Bristol fumbled the opening kickoff. From the scrum, outside half Scott Mitchell ghosted through a static defence for a score easily converted by Shelbourne.

Bristol struck back immediately. From a set scrum, Agustin Pichot went down the blindside and put Lee Best into a gap. Besty made good ground and then offloaded to Ross Beattie who raced in. Drahm converted to make it 19-12.

The game now went into something of a lull. Bristol's forwards had the upper hand and Vale were struggling to cope. Ironically, when the yellow card finally came, it was awarded to one of their backs!

Sheridan again fumbled as he went over the line which was the closest Bristol were to get. More substitutions took place and Felipe Contepomi, Duncan Hayward, Paul Johnstone, Peter Richards and Chris Rowland all entered the fray whilst Rhys Oakley had to replace Craig Short who limped off with an ankle injury.

Despite the disruptions, Bristol still tried to put width on the ball although it almost backfired when a Lee Best pass was intercepted and Phil Christophers had to make a timely tackle.

Brendon Daniel was on the end of a slick backs move 3 minutes from time but, once again, the move fizzled out and Bristol nearly kicked themselves when Vale were so close to scoring moments later when a rare attack resulted in Richard Davies somehow dropping the ball with the try line beckoning.

Bristol will have mixed feelings about this game. They carved open the Vale defence on several occasions but didn't finish the move off. They fumbled the ball over the line several times and should really have had over 30 points. Saracens won't be so generous next week.

The forwards went particularly well and the Welshmen resorted to spoiling tactics to try and slow down the mientum, In the backs, Martin Shaw went well as did Lee Best but the pick of them was probably Brendon Daniel who was a constant threat.

What we have to bear in mind was that this was a friendly. The real stuff starts next week. Most of the players can be forgiven for having half an eye on next week - wanting to impress Peter Thorburn whilst wanting to avoid getting hurt.

Saracens will be the real yardstick.