By Ian Todd
April 21 2007

Bristol moved up to third place in the Premiership table with a 22-17 win against Worcester Warriors who picked up a losing bonus point. The visitors led 17-12 at halftime but failed to score in the second half and a second try for David Lemi and a Danny Gray drop-goal saw Bristol safe. In hot, sunny, conditions Bristol started the game well; getting hold of the ball and keeping possession whilst probing the Worcester defences. The defence though was much improved over the beginning of the season and Bristol were unable to create an early breakthrough. However, when the ball was kicked, pretty aimlessly, to Worcester fullback Drahm his riposte was too strong and it went dead in the corner of the Family Enclosure and Clubhouse Terrace. This handed Bristol a scrum deep in Worcester territory and then a penalty as the Worcester pack committed some offence. Danny Gray, in far more benign conditions than last weekend, was wide of the posts with his effort. Drahm cleared the danger with a long drop out kick that Bristol failed to handle well.

As Bristol attacked they turned over possession and Brown sent Bristol back with a good, well-judged, kick. Bristol managed to deal with the immediate danger but only by kicking to touch and giving Worcester the lineout. Their forwards duly obliged and drove into the Bristol defence who gave away a penalty at the ruck. It was 20 or so metres out but Drahm, who was never able to oust Contempomi from Bristol supporters’ affections, showed the how penalties should be taken by coolly opening the scoring with an accurate kick. It was 0 – 3, rather against the balance of play, after 12 minutes. Bristol were rightly stung by this and Luke Arscott made an excellent break coming into the line at pace and cutting a good angle. He fed on to David Lemi who was well tackled, but he flipped out an awkward low pass that temporary replacement Scott Linklater, with no defenders to beat, was just unable to hold. Bristol were not be denied for long when Shaun Perry whipped the ball out from a ruck to Arscott who, after his earlier run was picked up much more quickly by the defenders. He neatly passed to Neil Brew who powered into a gap. As the defence attempted to realign, Brew popped the ball up to David Lemi, who stepped inside the last defender to score out wide. The conversion attempt was just wide but Bristol had edged in front 5 – 3 midway though the half.

The visitors were looking rather ragged at this point and Brew again made a nice break through a half tackle and set Gareth Llewellyn free. As previously this season, the veteran lock seemed to hesitate for a brief instant when confronted with so much room and the ball in hand, but he was soon into his stride and demonstrated a surprising turn of speed as he sprinted for the line. He was looking around for support though and it arrived in the form of Sam Cox who took the offloaded pass to power over by the posts. Gray’s relief when the straightforward conversion went over was visible and Bristol looked good value for a 12 – 3 lead.

Perry then sent the ball down to the Worcester 22 for one of Bristol’s better efforts at finding touch. Aside from Joe El Abd the rest of the Bristol team were utterly asleep as Drahm took the lineout quickly and launched the ball out into midfield. The ball was worked from one side of the pitch to the other and then back again as Worcester capitalised on the complacency and poor organisation of the Bristol defence before finally the ball was smartly popped up to Tucker who crossed over in the far corner. It was a well taken effort that showed Worcester’s backs and forwards combining well and at pace. Having started the move with some quick thinking Drahm finished the sequence off with a fine conversion to narrow the gap to 12 – 10. With just a few minutes left in the half Bristol should have been able to hold on and get their brains into gear for the second half. It was not to be and, with the countdown clock at zero, Gray failed to make touch with a long kick. Knowing the ball had to be kept alive Worcester ran it back at a befuddled Bristol defence from deep in their own half. They worked their way to the Bristol 22 before the ball was popped up to the speeding Delport who powered through the half-hearted covering tackle and then stepped inside Arscott on an angled run to score under the posts. Drahm converted for a 12 – 17 halftime lead.

There were some uncomfortable recollections that Bristol had managed 12 points last weekend, but the discomfort of the Bristol supporters was as nothing to the discomfort in the Bristol dressing room. Bristol were behind as a result of two basic errors against a side battling for safety. But Bristol started the second half strongly, doubtless encouraged by some frank views pithily expressed by the coaching team. Perry set Lee Robinson free to make some ground. Earlier in the match he had been coming infield at an angle but was picked up every time by the defenders who had undoubtedly seen the break he made last weekend and worked out how to counter it. This time he ran as a conventional winger and set up a good position in the visitors’ 22. El Abd and Llewellyn were both stopped just short of the line as they attempted to drive over, but when the ball went wide, Gray knocked on Perry's poor pass from the ruck. Frankly Perry’s passing was some way off his normal high standard all afternoon and I wonder if he is carrying an injury. Still Bristol struggled to fashion an opening in the Worcester defence. Basic skills seemed at a premium when poor passing and handling saw yet another knock on bring a promising move to a halt.

Finally Bristol managed to gain some territory with a kick down into the corner. The ball went along the backline to Lemi who showed the ball and then sidestepped Drahm to go over in the opposite corner, diving under the last despairing tackles. Gray made the difficult touchline conversion and Bristol were back in front 19 – 17. With about a quarter of an hour to go Bristol went looking for another try that would make the lead more secure and bring a try-scoring bonus point. The Worcester defence was sound and the Bristol attack too leaden. However, Andrew Blowers, who is starting to look very good, drove into midfield on the Worcester 22 and set up a ruck. Gray dropped back in position for the drop goal attempt. The ball seemed to take an age to come back and the Worcester defence had time to prepare, but the ball is faster than the man and, when the ball eventually flew out to Gray, he was perfectly poised to precisely send the ball between the posts to extend the lead to 22 – 17. Worcester have moved off the ‘relegation’ spot because they have picked up more losing bonus points than any other side, but they sensed that a win was still possible. With their big impact players on (and Gavin Quinnell has actually lost weight since joining Worcester!) they had the physical presence to hammer their way through a wearying Bristol defence. First though they had to get the ball into a danger area. This they did with a skilful kick through the defensive line that bounced dangerously into the Bristol 22. Delport followed up, closely attended by Robinson. Arscott attempted to cover as Delport failed to gather the ball and Bristol hacked the ball into touch. The initial danger was over but the lineout was Worcester’s. They took possession and a series of drives took them close to the line as the Bristol defence had to summon up its last reserves of energy and concentration. At last it looked as though they had a real chance to find a way to the line when the referee indicated he was playing advantage, presumably for El Abd’s efforts to slow the ball at the ruck. This would have been the first penalty conceded by Bristol in the half but then Gillies having legitimately rucked El Abd out of the way and freed the ball for two other forwards to take the ball closer to the line, decided to give a tap-dancing demonstration on the now uninvolved Bristol player. Inexplicably, having ceased for a moment, he then returned for another session, this time clearly targeting El Abd’s knee. The crowd were incensed and, more significantly, the touch judge raised his flag. There was a long conference between the officials as chants of “Off, off, off” rang out. The captains were called over and for a moment it looked as if no action was to be taken, but the referee reached to his pocket and produced yellow for El Abd and a deserved red for Gillies. More importantly the penalty now went to Bristol. There were 8 seconds left on the clock and Bristol took the bold decision to tap the penalty and bank on retaining possession from the desperate Worcester pack as the countdown ticked. It was the right decision and when the clock went to zero the ball was hammered dead for a close fought win.

It was an entertaining game with the sides evenly matched despite, or perhaps because of, some poor handling in the first half. The Bristol pack, although looking tired after a long season, performed well with the backrow covering and tackling to good effect. Gray, too late, is proving some of his doubters wrong. His place kicking is certainly not in Strange’s class but he unquestionably seems to get the backline moving well and his long passes free the wingers. Arscott too looked comfortable in the Premiership after a couple of jitters. Brew continues to look a good signing and Lemi shows how to finish moves. Where would we be without him? The true turning point of the game was when Horsman went off, rather than the Gillies nonsense. Before then the Bristol set piece was under real pressure at times. Afterwards it looked perfectly comfortable and this was reflected both in terms of territory and possession, but also in the absence of penalties and free kicks in the second half. The two tries conceded both came from lack of concentration by Bristol either from complacency or perhaps from tiredness. It is a concern after our defensive excellence earlier in the season. Still, the top two teams to come at ‘home’ and the chance to make the pay-offs where we have a good record!