Rotherham were left to wonder what might have been as they lost their
first-ever Zurich Premiership match by a narrow margin.
It was an absorbing, although often scrappy match, but Bristol's extra
experience and stamina proved decisive.
Rotherham had run out to a rousing welcome from a capacity crowd at Clifton
Lane and quickly showed that they were not overawed by their illustrious
opponents.
Bristol, predictably, enjoyed the Lions's share of possession but Rotherham's
tackling for much of the match was crisp and effective.
Dave Scully, Rotherham's talisman and skipper was in the thick of the action,
urging his players forward and keeping a cool head despite the overwhelming
pressure on his Premiership novices.
Bristol outside-half Gareth Bowen missed the first clear chance to open the
scoring, sending his long-range penalty wide.
But Bowen did not have long to wait to open his and Bristol's account as
Rotherham were penalised for a late tackle, and the fly-half sent his kick
sailing through the uprights.
Rotherham hit back almost immediately with a penalty of their own through
player-coach Mike Umaga, to level the scores at 3-3. Bowen struck again with a
penalty to put the visitors back in front.
Umaga then landed a well-placed penalty to level the scores. On 20 minutes
Umaga struck again to put Rotherham ahead for the first time.
The home side went 12-6 up as Umaga maintained his composure to land his
fourth penalty.
Bowen cut the deficit with a penalty shortly before the interval and Rotherham
suffered a further blow when Chris Murphy was sin-binned for a professional foul
scrum-half Augustin Pichot.
The unflappable Umaga landed his fifth penalty of the game to make it 15-9 at
the interval.
Two minutes into the second half as Bowen kicked his fourth penalty to leave
Bristol trailing by just three points.
A good clearance from a penalty by fly-half Simon Binns eased the pressure,
and Rotherham were restored to 15 men eight minutes into the second half with
the re-introduction of Murphy.
Rotherham regained the initiative with a try from number eight Isaac Feaunati
after 51 minutes but Umaga was wide with the conversion attempt and it remained
20-12.
Bowen missed a simple penalty but made but made no mistake shortly afterwards
to keep Bristol in touch.
The visitors then levelled with a try from winger Dean Dewdney but Bowen
missed the conversion to leave the score 20-20.
Bowen missed a late penalty but was given another chance with five minutes
left and made no mistake. Umaga then missed a penalty with the very last kick of
the game.
Rotherham: Umaga, Dawson, Northey, Shepherd,
Simpson, Binns, Scully, Bunting, Johnson, Turner, Murphy, Parr, Earnshaw,
Spence, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Wood for Simpson (73), Thorp for Bunting (68),
Latham for Turner (64), Wade for Spence (68).
Not Used: White, Harrison, Greaves.
Bristol: Best, Rees, Simone, Davies, Dewdney, Bowen, Pichot, Gerrard, Williams, Crompton, Sheridan, Ryan, Salter, C. Short, Brownrigg.
Replacements: McCarthy for Gerrard (40),
Sturnham for Salter (48), Vander for C. Short (40).
Not Used: Baber, Vile, Ogilvie-Bull, Johnstone.
Att: 2,700
Ref: Ashley Rowden (Berkshire (RFU)).
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