Barry Everitt preserved London Irish's unbeaten Premiership record with a
dramatic last-gasp penalty at the Memorial Stadium.
Fly-half Everitt struck in the eighth minute of injury time, just when Bristol
looked to have done enough to secure a hard-earned victory.
Second-half tries from wingers David Rees and Spencer Brown gave Bristol the
edge, but Everitt came up trumps when it really mattered.
Although he missed three penalty attempts, he kept his cool amid huge pressure
after referee Tim Miller offered him the chance to salvage a draw when Bristol's
forwards infringed.
The result means that Irish stay unbeaten, having recorded victories over
Harlequins and Leeds, while Bristol will view Sunday's clash as one that got
away.
They looked home and dry thanks to the combined efforts of Rees and Brown.
Rees reminded England boss Clive Woodward of his finishing power with a
brilliant 40-metre run to the line, while Brown pounced on 65 minutes following
sniping approach work by Bristol scrum-half Agustin Pichot.
It looked as if Irish would be left ruing Everitt's missed kicks, failures
which ruined his 100record from 18 shots at goal during the Quins and Leeds
matches.
Both Bristol kickers - Shane Drahm and his half-time substitute Felipe
Contepomi - suffered off-days with the boot, botching five shots at goal between
them, a statistic that probably undermined Bristol's victory hopes.
Australian Drahm, despite slotting two penalties, threw a couple of wild
interception passes during the opening nine minutes.
Irish wing Paul Sackey would have sprinted 70 metres to score from the first
one, but referee Miller penalised the Exiles for offside, and Drahm found the
target.
But there was to be no reprieve just eight minutes later when centre Justin
Bishop capitalised on Drahm's glaring error 35 metres out. Everitt's conversion,
and a later penalty, meant the visitors led 10-6 at half-time.
Bristol came out firing for the second period, and within two minutes conjured
up a stunning try.
Centre Phil Christophers made a telling break from inside his own half, yet
Rees still had it all to do when he received the ball.
But combining pace and power, he brushed off two attempted tackles to squeeze
over in the corner.
The game then became a nip and tuck affair as Everitt restored Irish's
advantage through a short-range penalty, but a 40-metres Contepomi strike made
it 14-13 to the home team.
When Pichot then delivered a scoring pass to Brown, it looked as though the
points were Bristol's, even allowing for an Everitt penalty eight minutes from
time which narrowed the Exiles' arrears to three points.
Brown limped off in injury time, but referee Miller somehow allowed eight
minutes of injury time, long enough for Everitt to level the scores and keep
Irish well placed among the early season Premiership pace-setters.
Teams
Bristol: Best, Rees, Little, S.
Brown, Drahm, Pichot,
Christophers, Johnstone, McCarthy, White, Archer, A. Brown,
Brownrigg, Short, Sturnham.
Replacements: Contepomi for Drahm (40).
Not Used: Cadwallader, Blake, Salter, Sheridan, Crompton,
Nelson.
Tries: Rees, S. Brown.
Pens: Drahm 2, Contepomi.
London Irish: Horak, Cunningham,
Bishop, Venter, Sackey,
Everitt, Edwards, Worsley, Drotske, Halford, Strudwick,
Fahrensohn, Cockle, Dawson, Sheasby.
Replacements: Hatley for Worsley (48),
Hardwick for Halford (48), Kirke for Dawson (48).
Not Used: Delaney, Halvey, Hoadley, Barrett.
Tries: Bishop.
Cons: Everitt.
Pens: Everitt 4.
Att: 3,900
Ref: Kim Miller (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook