By Ian Todd
February 15 2015

Bristol scored an impressive eight tries in a victory that was far less comfortable than the scoreline might suggest.  After racing into a 19 - 0 lead the defence fell apart to let Moseley close the first period on 19-all.  Bristol just seem incapable of leading at half time.  The second half saw Bristol run in more tries and keep Moseley out until the very last action of the game, but the way the defence seems to go absent for large periods must surely be a worry for the coaches.  Gavin Henson scored on his debut to silence a few of his critics and Charlie Amesbury looked sharp and got through a huge amount of work.

Bristol kicked off and immediately put the visitors under pressure.  George Watkins had a quick dart, before the pack put in some great work at the scrum.  The Moseley forwards cracked as the power came on and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try.  Interestingly he also awarded a yellow card, which means those who thought a yellow card or two might have been in order in Penzance may have been on to something.  Bristol were quickly on the move again and more good work from the pack took the ball close to the line before quick ball to Watkins saw the winger over in the right hand corner for an unconverted try.

Things looked ominous for the visiting side, and looked even worse when another good drive from the Bristol punched a hole in midfield, Nicky Robinson chipped ahead and Charlie Amesbury (who would have been my man of the match) latched onto the ball and scored by the posts.  The conversion took Bristol into a 19 – 0 lead.  Moseley regrouped after these blows and took play to Bristol.  First a penalty gained territory and then Bristol were penalised right in front of the posts.  Moseley chose to go for touch but were turned over to allow Robinson to clear.  The ball was still in play and Siggery, back from the sin bin, made a fine break that Jack Wallace was hard pressed to track back and bring his man down.  However the support was on hand and Brightwell was over for a converted try.

Bristol tried to hit back and unheralded debutant Gavin Henson popped up a lovely pass that released Gareth Maule into space.  The centre fed Wallace but a last ditch tap tackle brought him crashing down.  Henson tried the same trick again moments later only to find his teammates were not on the same wavelength.  Moseley seized full advantage of the respite with another good penalty kick to touch.  This time the driving maul was much more effective and Dacres peeled away to score unopposed.  And unopposed would be an excellent word to describe the next Moseley attack.   Virtually non-existent defence allowed the visitors to make ground from well inside their own half and right up to the Bristol line.  The defence regrouped but the tackling was feeble as Brightwell plunged over for a try that tied the score at 19-all.   Bristol had a chance to edge back in front just before half time but a lot of huffing and puffing five metres out came to nothing despite a couple of penalties and a scrum from Moseley that ought to have been penalised but wasn’t.

The team talk at half time must have been an interesting affair and it certainly seemed to have an effect because Maule was swiftly over for an unconverted try.  Moseley then failed to make 10 metres with the restart.  Forced to scrum on the centre spot they were driven back at a rate of knots and were penalised.  The kick was to touch.  The catch and drive from the lineout was well organised and powerful.  The Moseley defence had no answer and Ollie Robinson flopped over the line for a converted try and 31 – 19.

With replacements starting to come on, a good early burst from Nick Koster created some space that Watkins cleverly exploited with a nicely controlled kick ahead.  Craig Hampson showed an impressive turn of speed to gather the ball and sprint clear for another converted try.  Moseley tried to hit back but good defensive work forced a turnover and Ben Glynn showed he was no slouch with an impressive run before he offloaded to Watkins who managed to skip out of one tackle before racing behind the posts.  It seemed that Bristol were certain to score moments later but Maule knocked on with the line at his mercy.

Moseley, to their credit, kept plugging away and managed to exert some pressure on the Bristol line.  One drive was halted illegally and Koster was shown a yellow card.  Despite this the defence held firm and it was Bristol who scored when, in a one on one situation, Henson held his man up in the tackle and ripped the ball free and dashed over to score.  Replacement Matthew Morgan made the conversion for 52 – 19.   There was still time for Moseley to come back at their hosts and this time they made their numerical advantage count with Lea driven over from short range for the bonus point try and a final score of 52 – 24.