Bristol outplay Gloucester
PREMIERSHIP REPORT: The Bristol Bears outplayed Gloucester on their way to a 34-16 win at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
It was a battle of the kickers in the first half, with Callum Sheedy and Owen Williams taking it in turns to slot a series of penalties, the Bears man outscoring his opposite number 5-3, to give the hosts a 15-9 lead at the break.
And it was the Bears who finally broke the whitewash, a face familiar to Gloucester doing the honours as Purdy – on debut following a short-term loan deal from the Cherry & Whites – crossing out wide.
A slick set-piece move created space for Morahan to dive over in the corner as Pat Lam’s side all but wrapped up the points, but Protheroe made sure minutes later as the Bears hit Gloucester with a quick one-two.
Freddie Clarke grabbed a late consolation for the Cherry & Whites, but it was too little, too late.
The scorers:
For Bristol Bears:
Tries: Purdy, Morahan, Protheroe
Cons: Sheedy 2
Pens: Sheedy 5
For Gloucester:
Try: Clarke
Con: Twelvetrees
Pens: Williams 3
Yellow card: Henry Purdy (Bristol, 79)
Teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Henry Purdy, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steven Luatua (captain), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Ollie Dawe, 18 Lewis Thiede, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mat Protheroe.
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Todd Gleave, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Matt Banahan.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Simon McConnell.
TMO: Sean Davey.
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