NARROW B & I WIN AT SCOTTISH

By Di Manning
November 13 2014

An unfamiliar Bristol side took on a London Scottish team that appeared stronger than the one they faced earlier in the league.  The result was the same although the score was much closer as Bristol staged a fine comeback aided by an excellent kicking display from Mark Cooke

Bristol, in their red change strip (which avoided the clash of colours witnessed in the league fixture), took an early lead with a straightforward penalty from Mark Cooke.  Scottish tried to strike back and the prolific Mantella came close to latching on to a nice grubber kick before Cooke took his side further in front with another penalty.

The home side tried to exert pressure on Bristol but the scrum was an area of frustration for both sides and the watching supporters.  There was even a strike against the head from Bristol.  However Scottish strung together an excellent move from a lineout , a fine pass then allowed Mantella to slice through the Bristol defence for a converted try that took his team into the lead.

Just minutes later another Cooke penalty moved the visitors back in front.  Bristol were disadvantaged by the loss of Nick Koster to the sin bin and Scottish capitalised from  the resulting catch and drive when Kwasnicki came off the back of an ominous driving maul to smash his way over in the far corner.  The try was the subject of some unnecessary consultation but the conversion attempt was just off target to leave the half time score at 12 – 9.

Scottish extended the lead soon after the break with two penalties, one from the halfway line and the other as the result of a strike against the head with the scrums continuing as a source of problems.  Scottish looked comfortably in control at 18 – 9.

Bristol simply had to find some response if the game wasn’t to drift away from them and Cooke gave his team hope with another successful penalty goal.  A real route back into the game opened up when James Phillips, one of many ex-Bristol players in the Scottish squad, was shown yellow.  Just as Scottish had taken advantage of their extra man before, so did Bristol.  Charlie Amesbury offloaded to Luke Eves who went in beneath the posts for a converted try that moved Bristol into the lead by a single point.  Cooke continued his exemplary kicking performance with another penalty and Bristol held on for the win with a surprising degree of comfort.