Jersey lose to dominant Bristol

Monday 28 September 2015

Premiership-chasing Bristol's all-star cast, including former Lions Gavin Henson and Tom Varndell, showed their true colours at St Peter on Saturday, beating the Islanders 24-7.

From the first whistle, an upset never looked likely with Bristol scoring a try after just over a minute of play. The Reds had a dismal first half, looking nervy whenever the Blue-and-Whites attacked, and only in the last ten minutes did the hosts push to the Bristol try-line. A disappointing first half ended 17-0 to the visitors.

Jersey began the second half which much more confidence and conviction - forcing Bristol to concede penalties at the scrum and making solid attacks from the back line. The build-up was slow and the hosts made some frustrating errors but their efforts were rewarded in the 68th minute when Tom Howe finally broke through the Bristol defences to score.

But big-spending Bristol, who currently stand second in the Championship, fought back to dominate the final 15 minutes and they were rewarded with try from a driving maul in the final few minutes.

Jersey can take something from their determination after the re-start but they will be keen to cut out the simple errors if they are going to make a fist of it this season.

The Reds travel to Moseley next week.