By Duncan Wood
December 29 2002

No tries this afternoon but lots of action. The conditions were the real winner as the Shoguns forwards set the tone and established the platform for the Argentinian half backs to control the game.

The weather conditions dictated this one. The wind and rain always meant that it would be a titanic struggle up front and a day for the tactical kicking game.

Bristol looked up for this one from the off. The forwards tore into their Sharks counterparts from the first whistle and quickly established territorial dominance.

Behind them, the Puma half back pairing of Pichot and Contepomi returned to the starting lineup and added a quiet air of authority to proceedings. Contepomi was particularly impressive early on and used his strength on several occasions to make good ground.

Bristol were rewarded for their early dominance with Contepomi penalties after 7 minutes and 12 minutes although Charlie Hodgson responded with one of his own after 15 minutes.

Bristol were playing the conditions well at this point and had been awarded several 5 metre scrums but they had been unable to take full advantage and the only concern was that 6 points was scant reward for the dominance.

There was no further scoring in the half although Hodgson missed a difficult kick on the stroke of half time.

Bristol would have been pleased with the way that they had played but disappointed at only having a 6-3 lead. They would now have the wind at their backs in the 2nd half but the dangerous Sharks runners (Robinson, Cueto and Hanley) had barely been seen and that couldn't continue.

Ironically, the Sharks belied the wind disadvantage and had the better of the territorial battle in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. However, Bristol made the most of their time in the Sharks half and Contepomi nailed 2 penalties on 49 and 54 minutes to stretch the lead to 12-3 before Hodgsin landed one of his own on 56 minutes.

The Sharks started to look dangerous and Bryan Redpath made one superb break from halfway before being hauled down just short. However, the Shoguns defence was pretty impressive and the forwards put in a massive effort in the set piece.

Bristol slowly but surely turned the screw and Pichot and Contepomi used the possession superbly. Two further penalties made it 18-6 and Contepomi almost created a late try for Andrew Higgins with a superb grubber kick which Higgins knocked on as he slid over the line.

The Sharks tried to move the ball around in the final few moments but the conditions and the Bristol defence were against them.

This was a very important win for Bristol after the disappintment of last week. Every single player stood up to be counted and nobody let the side down.

The conditions meant that it would never be a classic and the pack effectively won the game with a great group effort. The lineout and scrum was solid and the workrate first class.

It wasn't a day for the outside backs but Lee Best had a fine day at fullback under the high ball and Brendon Daniel looked dangerous on the rare occasions that the ball came his way.

The half backs ruled the roost and Contepomi was a deserved Man of the Match.

A good way to end the year...