Bristol Utd v Gloucester utd

Bristols MOTM
By Mr Bow-jangles
April 1 2003

The evening began with a subdued trip up the M5. Talk of the 5000 scheme, of consortiums, of the City of Oxford, rumours of one thing or another that seem to spring endlessly out of our great club in recent times. The divide between those in the know and the supporters seemingly growing day-by-day.

But what’s this up ahead? A rugby match? Yes a rugby match, remember them!! Not just any old rugby match, one between the great cities of Bristol and Gloucester, neighbours by geography and fierce rivals by history and tradition. The aura surrounding the two camps was notable. Bris, silent and uncertain, reflecting the future that has not yet been laid out in front of them and Glos, confident, cocky, self-assured. The winning feeling seems to be flowing right through the club at present.

To the game; it was (to coin an often-used phrase) ‘a game of two halves’! The first half inexplicably Gloucester’s largely due to their pace and aggression, but also due to Bristol’s indiscipline and error-strewn play. The second period dominated in possession and territory by Bristol, with Gloucester always dangerous on the counter.

The first period began with a Bristol mistake, Richards choosing to offload a Gloucester kick into Bristol’s 22 when a boot into touch would have been more sensible given the lack of support. From the ensuing ruck, Gloucester were awarded a penalty. There followed a period of immense pressure on the Bristol line, which stood up manfully to begin with…then indiscipline reared its ugly head. After a 3 or 4 man dust up on the far side Rowland was made scapegoat and sat out the next 10 minutes of play. Glos were awarded 3 further penalties in a row, all of which were kicked to touch in the hope of a catch and drive. All bar one of these were held up….illegally, the ‘bar-one’ resulting in a try for the pumped up Luke Narroway. Stuart-Smith missed the conversion from wide on the left.

Wake-up call for Bris? Not yet!

With 14 men, it was imperative that Bris got some possession. They did, before indiscipline once again handed it back to Glos. This time they went with their backs. They stretched Bris right then left before their left winger, Jon Goodridge, went over in the corner. This time Stuart-Smith converted and Bris were suddenly 12 – 0 down.

‘Indiscipline’ went and had a sit down in the bin with Rowland, as his old mate ‘turnover’ came on to play. From the restart Bristol ‘turned over’ wrestled possession back, then turned it over again. The support at the breakdowns was just off the pace and Gloucester’s aggressive backrow were ensuring that rucks were turning into a free-for-all. The gain-line was being breached, but again the support was not on the runners shoulders and ‘hanging on’ penalties were killing the momentum. Rowland returned to the fray and was straight into the action with a barnstorming run up the left wing. As the fullback approached, the hooker passed blind, in hope of support that never materialised…possession lost…again. The Gloucester backs swung right then left, then right again, probing for gaps, hoping for an overlap. Bristol held them at bay, in no small part to the aggressive defence by both Craig Short and Richard Martin-Redman. Eventually the hole grew too big and the dam exploded as the Cherry and Whites No.8 Nick Sowhern broke through to score wide on the right. The conversion was once again missed but Bris were 17 – 0 down and in need of inspiration. Instead Chris Catling made an inspired run almost directly from the restart, chipping the first line of defence, gathering, then chipping the second line of defence, before losing the race with Kershaw-Naylor for the touchdown. Unfortunately the Welsh U21 international let the ball spin from his grasp and Catling pounced to take Glos to a 22 – 0 lead. The conversion from wide on the left was once again missed.

Bristol were in disarray, fragmented, disjointed, indisciplined and nervous in possession. Glos could smell a kill.

Missed kicks to touch were pinning Bris in there half and but for the admirable and aggressive tackling of Rowland, these missed kicks could have sunk the blues lower.

HALF TIME:   Glos 22 – 0 Bris

Bristol replaced Williams with Best at fullback, causing a few observations from the crowd on the fullbacks choice of hair product….but Bristol began to gel!!!

A weaving run from Jon Clarke took play deep into the Glos 22. Bristol (for once) recycled quickly and the Brylcream boy himself went over in the corner. Carrington converted and suddenly the comeback was on. 22 – 7.

A good catch and drive from the restart raised expectations even more, as the pack began to earn the hard yards. A clever kick from Richards down the line provided the good field position, so needed in the first half. The backs began to wind up another move when a forward pass stopped them dead in their tracks. The pass seemed to deflate the boys. Another scrappy, error-strewn period ensued and Bristol couldn’t string more than 2 or 3 phases together. Glos were capitalising wherever possible. A mis-directed lineout from Johnstone (at Hooker after Rowland was replaced with Lee Bannister) and Glos steamed out of their half and up to Bristol’s 22 in a sweeping move involving forwards and backs. Bristol in their desperation for field position began kicking….the ball away! Missed touches were gobbled up by the Gloucester back three and Bristol could not contain them on the counter-attack. Again, as if through sheer stubbornness the Bristol boys somehow managed to gain field position and a platform with which to attack. Richards looped round two dummy runs but could not take in the highly unfriendly pass from Luke. Glos picked up the pieces and again stormed down the length of the pitch to score under the posts, their scrum half Stuart-Smith with the final touchdown. Again he missed the conversion, but did not seem too upset as he glanced at the scoreboard showing 27 – 7 to the Cherry & Whites.

From the restart, a wild pass in the Bristol midfield was seized upon and ran back towards the Bristol line, eventually falling to the tireless Narroway to score his second of the night. This time Stuart-Smith converted and Bristol were lost at 34 – 7.

Bristol looked to restore some pride. They broke through to the Gloucester 22 and then had some 8 or 9 phases of play, but were unable to break the impressive Glos defence. Fittingly, the final play of the match was a Gloucester break from a Bristol mistake!

All in all, a nervous and error-strewn performance suggesting minds may have been on other things. However Gloucester were a class apart on this clear and chilly night, deserving of their win.

FINAL SCORE:  Gloucester United 34 – 7 Bristol United

On the up-side:

Shorty looked very solid on his comeback.

Rowland was aggressive throughout and deserved better.

Carrington and Hayward caused the Glos defence problems but lacked the support to turn problems into points.

Besty won his dual with Williams at fullback (although only narrowly).

Martin-Redman never gave up in a brave performance worthy of a mention.

My Bristol Man-of-the-match:  Richard Martin-Redman

Teams:

Bristol:

Jamie Williams, Jon Clarke, Tom Luke, Duncan Hayward, Will Kershaw-Taylor, Matt Carrington, Peter Richards, Richard Martin-Redman, Chris Morgan, Craig Short, Richard Hunt, Scott Witcombe, Joe Horn-Smith, Chris Rowland, Paul Johnstone

Subs used:

Lee Best (for Williams), Lee Bannister (for Rowland), Tom Lambert (for Short), Wayne Thompson (for Horn-Smith), Greg Nicholls (Richards), ??? (Carrington)

Gloucester:

Chris Catling, Darren O’Leary, Josh Frape, Duncan Murray, Jon Goodridge, Brad Davies, Clive Stuart-Smith, Nick Sowhern, Luke Narroway, Pete Buxton, Mark Rimmer, Ed Pearce, Darren Molloy, Adam Caves, Mark Irish

Subs used:

Chris Wilkes (Frape), Stu Roberts (Wilkes), Rob Fidler (Pearce), Peter Knight (Rimmer) + OTHERS.