BONUS POINT KEEPS BRISTOL IN THE HUNT

Bristol notched up a second victory with Andy Robinson at the helm in an entertaining bonuss point game.  Bristol outscored the visitors by five tries to three, but Mr Robinson will doubtless be concerned that his side conceded points from nearly every (rare) visit Plymouth made to the Bristol half

On a beautiful spring afternoon Bristol took on South West Rivals in a game that had to be won, and ideally with a bonus point, to keep alive hopes of scraping into the play-offs.  And right from the start Bristol attacked at speed and with intensity.  The ball was claimed at the kick-off and the home side pressed forward and were rewarded with an early kickable penalty.  The option to go for the posts was eschewed though an Adrian Jarvis pumped the ball into touch.  Sadly the ambition was not matched by the execution and Albion’s defence held Bristol out.

Instead it was the visitors who chose to go for the posts just a few minutes later, but Cusack was off-target with his long-range effort.  Bristol continued to look very comfortable on the ball, dominating both territory and possession.  Plymouth’s resistance finally cracked when Ben Mosses sliced through the heart of the defence, he fed the dynamic James Merriman (with just the hint of a forward pass) who, in turn, neatly offloaded to Jon Goodridge who went in beneath the posts for a converted try.

The busy Jack Tovey (who had his hands on the ball more times this game then in five at full back) almost jinked his way down the wing just five minutes later but the cover just managed to  hustle him into touch just a metre short of the line.  Bristol’s near complete dominance then almost came to a sudden end when a telegraphed pass on the Plymouth 22 was intercepted by Stupple who broke clear.  He never looked as if he had the pace to go all the way and his pass on halfway was knocked on by Carpenter.  A real let-off for Bristol.

Bristol swiftly recovered from the scare and a well-judged grubber kick from Ruki Tipuna was smartly picked up by Merriman who crossed for an unconverted try: but still 12 – 0.  Bristol’s attacking resolve received another reward when a quick tapped penalty from Tipuna was crudely hauled back by Fairbrother who was shown yellow for his foolish act.  Amazingly Bristol made the extra man tell, rather than the usual pattern of promptly giving away a penalty.  The visiting defence was completely outflanked as Bristol moved the ball wide for Marco Mama to stroll over and take the score to a well-deserved 17 – 0.

Bristol should have capitalised further with an interception of their own.  Eves just didn’t have the pace to take him away from the desperate defenders and his ball inside to Ryan Edwards gave the winger little chance to break clear and the ball was knocked on.  Normal sin-bin procedure was then resumed when Albion stunned the hosts with two quick-fire scores.  Carpenter went over from a lineout move that Bristol just could not halt (although returnees from the bar assured m that he dropped the ball). Then Cusack made a break through some poor defence, he made great ground but stumbled when he looked certain to go all the way. He managed, though, to get the ball away for McAtee to score under the posts. Cusack converted to make the half-time score 17 – 12.  Plymouth had been in the Bristol half three times and scored twice.

Any Bristol nerves were settled early in the second half by a Jarvis’ penalty.  Bristol now must have assumed that the bonus point try was simply a matter of time and could just take penalty chances as they arose.   However, the next penalty was promptly hoofed into touch, so much for that theory.  The Plymouth defence held firm in the face of a determined assault on their line.  Bristol gave away another interception and Armitage sprinted clear to halfway only for his pass to Stephen to be clumsily knocked-on.

Plymouth did manage to cut the deficit with a well-struck penalty and some in the crowd must have been thinking how Bristol had let slip victories earlier in the season.  Fortunately that was not to be the case this time and the important fourth try finally materialised.  A penalty to the corner was followed by a good catch and drive.  The defence somehow kept the drive out, but a quick move inside saw Mariano Sambucetti smash his way over for a popular, and converted, try.  The fifth try was soon to follow following some good attacking play with the ever-present Luke Eves linking well with replacement George Watkins who showed the defence a clean pair of heels a he sprinted down the right wing.  Jarvis converted to make it 34 – 15.  To their credit Plymouth did not give up and their character was rewarded with a late try from Bowen.