BRISTOL CLINCH SEASON OPENER

Bristol opened the new season in fine style, outscoring their hosts by five tries to nil.  Doncaster managed to stay with Bristol after two tries in the first half but fell away badly towards the end of the game with BRistol claiming the bonus point.

Doncaster kicked off the new Championship season and were soon penalised at the scrum, giving Bristol an attacking line-out.  Bristol plugged away at the defence but made little headway.  Tristan Roberts controlled play well, made a nice break, then fed Sean Marsden, then on to Merriman, out to Jack Tovey who went over the line untouched beneath the posts.  The conversion was a formality.  Bristol led 0 – 7. 

Bristol were back on the attack with Roberts again to the fore.  George Watkins made a scything break but was tackled just short of the line.  The pack backed him up to maintain Bristol’s control of the ball.  The pressure was kept up and Doncaster were penalised.  Roberts went for the posts but was off-target, giving the host club a respite from the constant Bristol pressure. Taking their chance, Doncaster held on to possession, working away patiently in the face of determined defence.  A foolish Bristol penalty gave Doncaster the opportunity to kick into touch.  They turned over possession at the line-out but Roberts failed to make touch with his clearance.  Bristol then gave away another penalty right in front of the posts.  Whitehead made no mistake for a score of 3 – 7 with 25 minutes gone.

Bristol now looked a bit flustered and allowed Doncaster to keep up some pressure, before a forward pass brought things to a halt.  Bristol were once again sparked into life by a Roberts half-break, but the ball was turned over.  Doncaster then kicked the ball back to Bristol.  Sean Marsden fielded the ball, Watkins raced onto it, a small jink inside, poor attempts at tackling and in under the posts.  Roberts converted for 3 – 14 with the half drawing to its close.  Bristol had been dominant but perhaps failed to capitalise on their chances.

A Doncaster mistake allowed Bristol to start the half with a line-out on the Doncaster twenty-two but the play was very slow, and the hosts coped easily at first before a sudden upping of the pace gave a two to one overlap.  The final killer pass to Roberts was not made, however, and the Bristol chance went begging.

Doncaster seized their opportunity, putting Bristol under pressure.  It looked as if the home side had to score but it was not to be.  A real let-off for the visitors.  Doncaster were awarded a penalty though, and Whitehead narrowed the gap to 6 – 14.

Bristol tried to hit back quickly. Replacement scrum-half Tom Slater made a half-break and a penalty went Bristol’s way – right in front of the posts.  Roberts obliged to cancel out the Doncaster penalty and a score of 6 – 17.  Bristol then promptly gave away a kickable penalty of their own.  Whitehead was spot on to make it 9 – 17.

Doncaster were looking more confident now, forcing Bristol to defend.  A spate of replacements from both sides disrupted play.  Bristol finally managed to impose themselves with a scrum win against the head.  Quick ball to Tovey saw him use his pace to excellent effect to cross the line for a converted try and 9 – 24.  Needing to score quickly, Doncaster started to attack with more purpose.  The Bristol defence managed to hold firm.  The hosts went through several phases, the defence content to soak up the pressure, only to concede a straightforward penalty kick, making the score 12 – 24 with ten minutes left.

Another sudden injection of pace from Watkins released Roy Winters who fed replacement Wayne Thomson for a nice run. Slater was on hand to take the pass and go over for the converted bonus point try.  With the score now at 12 – 31 the game was drawing to a close.  Bristol continued to attack and pushed up to the Doncaster line.  Junior Fatialofa was held up short, but the ball was whipped out to Watkins, who blasted clear at an angle to cross out wide for a well converted try.  Final score: 12 – 38.