Mark Mapletoft was the star of the relegation show as he inspired London Irish to a victory which preserved their Zurich Premiership status and left trouble torn Bristol Shoguns on the bottom of the table.

Mapletoft, the 31-year-old bottle blond with one England cap to his name, fully justified his selection in place of regular fly-half Barry Everitt in the closing weeks of the relegation dogfight.

As well as contributing 16 points with a faultless display of place kicking, he was the springboard for a superb attacking performance which provided tries for Irish hooker Naka Drotske, centre Rob Hoadley and Geoff Appleford, wing Paul Sackey and full-back Michael Horak.

But while London Irish made sure of staying in the top flight as they capitalised on last week's crucial one-point win at Leicester - a result which kept their survival hopes alive - Bristol's future is shrouded in uncertainty.

The merger which will effectively see them swallowed up by Bath is still on the agenda and, with Division One champions Rotherham's rightful promotion to the Premiership still to be official ratified, the relegation battle could still ultimately turn out to have been a phoney war.

But that did not stop the passionate fans of both clubs making up a 12,696 crowd at Reading's Madejski Stadium and providing a great atmosphere for what could be Bristol's swansong after 115 years of rugby.

Their fans paraded behind banners urging the salvation of their club, but it was the Irish supporters who sang their team to victory.

Both sides began as though their very lives let alone their professional futures, depended on the outcome, throwing caution to the wind in a determined attacking effort.

But it was Irish who came from 10-0 down after 15 minutes to establish control in the closing stages of the first half and surge to victory.

Bristol fall-back Shane Drahm kicked a fourth-minute penalty and then converted in the 15th minute after fly-half Felipe Contepomi put Bristol on the offensive before winger Phil Christophers and stand-in captain Darryl Gibson combined to send flanker Craig Short over in the corner.

It took The Exiles just four minutes to open their account when Mapletoft created Drotske's try before adding the conversion.

Drahm put Bristol 13-7 ahead with a 22nd-minute penalty, but the game turned as Bristol notched 17 vital points in the closing seven minutes of the first half.

Fortune favoured the brave when Horak opted to take a quick penalty rather than settle for an almost guaranteed three points - and Mapletoft was again the provider for Hoadley to step inside Drahm and touch down between the posts.

Mapletoft converted, kicked a penalty and was on target again with the conversion after Sackey sent Appleford over in the left-hand corner in first half injury time.

Drahm reduced the Bristol deficit to 24-16 early in the second half, but Mapletoft cancelled out his penalty in the 64th minute.

The Irish fly-half saw a drop kick rebound from the post for his only minor disappointment of the afternoon.

But he was on target twice more with conversions after Sackey twice kicked ahead and won the race for the touchdown in a 50-metre run for the line after the ball had bobbled from a ruck, and again when Horak found a huge gap to run in a 40-metre try in the 80th minute.

Bristol had the final say when Contepomi superbly fashioned an injury time try for flanker Michael Lipman - but it was nothing more than a consolation.

While Irish celebrated their great escape, the bitterly disappointed Bristol players emerged to thank their loyal fans - possibly for the last time.