Cold but bright conditions saw Bristol start well with Luke Arscott freed to run onto the left wing and race into Quins 22.  He tried to draw the defender but his pass out of the tackle was a difficult one for the supporting David Lemi and he knocked on with the line surely at the mercy of so clinical a finisher.  It is tempting to write that this was the first and last good move of what was to prove a scoreless first half, but that is not exactly true.  Both sides attempted to play rugby but poor execution let them down.  Passes went astray, kicks bounced for the defenders and so on.  Quins had some opportunities: they tried to drive the ball through the forwards only to see Matt Salter, who put in a good performance, rip the ball clear and take play back to the visitors.  The kick from the resulting ruck failed to make touch and Strettle, who looked lively but somewhat directionless throughout, sped the ball back only to find Bristol league debutant Anthony Elliott equal to the challenge.  Shaun Perry made a half break to set up good field position but the move broke down in a combination of poor passing and handling.

Although Bristol looked to be much the stronger in the scrum they also seemed to lack concentration and lost several against the head (in fairness they then promptly won most of them back at the next Quins scrum).  From the first of these Quins strung together a couple of phases of less than dynamic forward play but failed to fashion any real breakthrough.  With the game entering the second quarter Elliott showed some of his recent sevens speed, taking the ball on at pace before desperate tackling hauled him to the ground.  The support arrived in time but the referee saw a Quins hand in the ruck and it was a penalty to Bristol.  David Hill was well off-target with his effort.  Bristol responded by claiming the restart and another penalty as Quins killed the ball again.  The referee issued a stern lecture (not for the only time in the game) but took no action.  Frankly he had a poor game from this point of view, I lost count of the very obvious offences at the ruck by Quins (and probably by Bristol too) that made for slow ball that went unpunished and apparently unseen (except by everyone in the crowd, of course).

©Chris Nash

In any event it was an easier penalty that Hill then struck against the crossbar.  Sometimes these rebounds lead to tries as the defence is wrong footed, but sadly not this time.  After this I have very few notes of the half as move after move collapsed with sloppy errors.  I know this is the season for giving but the number of times Bristol gave the ball to Quins was shocking.  After half an hour of this Quins had a penalty chance of their own which Jarvis showed that he too was accurate enough to hit the posts.  Bristol were stung into some sort of response and Perry managed to get close but the defence was up to the task, aided by the generous interpretation of the laws relating to offside and hands in the ruck.  Bristol then lost another scrum against the head promptly followed by dreadful effort in the lineout.  Quins' lineout was flaky from the outset but Bristol seemed determined to match it this respect and the lottery of the beginning of the season returned, much to the dismay of the supporters and doubtless the coaches and players.  As the half drew to a close Bristol had a final chance in the far right corner.  Surprisingly the ball shot out of the ruck on the Quins side.  Even more surprising was the fact that the referee, I think on the recommendation of the touch judge, finally took some action and showed the yellow card for Danny Care, looking rather perplexed, to take the walk of shame.  Typically Bristol were unable to make anything of the one man advantage in the few remaining minutes and the half ended with the score at a thoroughly depressing 0 - 0.

I can only assume that there were some free and frank exchanges in both dressing rooms at half time.  Bristol attacked with a directness missing for much of the opening half and Elliott again showed his pace to take the ball at a good angle into midfield.  He offloaded neatly to the supporting Rob Higgitt who continued with a powerful burst.  His offload lacked the precision of Elliott's but it was smartly gathered by Lemi who went in at the corner, just to make the conversion attempt easier.  Unsurprisingly Hill was off target but at last there was a score of 5 - 0.  The scoreboard operator was soon in action again.  Quins chipped over the Bristol defence where the bounce was well covered by Perry.  Unfortunately the pantomime cries of "He's behind you" from the crowd only served to cause Perry to turn and look and present the ball to the Quins fullback Williams.  He gratefully seized the ball and left a chagrined Perry behind to stare at his empty hands.  Try to Quins and a well struck conversion left the score at 5 - 7.  Astonishingly, and against the run of play (poor as Bristol were, Quins were poorer) the visitors were in the lead.

Bristol had to strike back quickly and Hill almost snaked his way through a leaden-footed defence to the line.
 

©Chris Nash

Support poured in and the bemused Elliott was left alone on the wing as Bristol reverted to a move from the Thorburn era which saw a comically large maul drive to the line.  Replacement David Blaney broke free to take the try.  Bristol were back in front 10 - 7 after Hill's missed conversion attempt.  Bristol at last looked dominant and aggressive defence saw Quins concede territory.  Andrew Blowers, on for the injured Dan Ward-Smith, showed that if he is not as fast as when younger he is still pretty fast and tidied up ball and took it back to Quins on several occasions.  He set up the ball from one run and Bristol were awarded the scrum.  This broke up in a scrappy fashion but also with the unbound Quins backrow really obvious in their efforts to kick the ball out.  It was a penalty to Bristol and Hill made no mistake and landed the confidence boosting effort to extend the home side's lead to 13 - 7.  Bristol then forced Quins back and won another penalty as the maul broke apart in some ill-tempered scuffles.  The referee delivered another stern lecture to Quins but failed to take the advice of the crowd.  The kick was for the corner but the lineout was hopeless and Quins cleared the danger.  Bristol were still striving for  the tries necessary for the bonus point and continued to attack.  Salter made a good break but was not well supported and his attempted offload was picked off by a Quins player.  Still Bristol hammered away and Blowers got close before the pack drove in and over the line.  Roy Winters was announced as the scorer from the mêlée of bodies.
  ©Chris Nash

Jason Strange, on as a replacement, took a seeming age over his conversion, but it was 20 - 7 with just a few minutes left.  Insufficient time for Bristol to fashion the opening for a fourth try although they struggled manfully to keep the ball alive eventually the ball went loose and the referee blew for full time. 

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