Western Counties North

Berry Hill 32 North Bristol 17

SOME say a week is a long time in politics, however North Bristol found that can apply to their current league campaign.

After a great bonus point-win the previous week against Bristol Harlequins, they fell to defeat at strugglers Berry Hill, which means they are not out of the relegation struggle just yet.

North welcomed Ross Wilson and Jonny Gait, who had recently been playing in Qatar for Doha RFC, back into the side.

The visitors started playing into a strong gale and it was the home side which made first use of this, knocking over a penalty.

North struck back almost immediately after a powerful catch and drive from a lineout crashed over the line, Alex Featherstone claiming the try.

This spurred Berry Hill into life and, after another long range wind-assisted penalty, they scored their first try of the day.

After a barrage of attacks in the North 22, the Berry Hill ten squeezed through a small chink in the North armour to score under the posts.

North then went on the attack, however after powerful surges from Wilson, Max Sheppard and Chris Jelf they couldn't find their way to the Berry Hill line for the second time.

The second half started with another Berry Hill score but North again fought back with a fabulous break from Gait after he claimed an excellent chip and raced into the Berry Hill 22.

A Berry Hill player was bizarrely sent to the sin bin and North kicked for the corner. From the resulting driving lineout, Featherstone claimed his second

of the day.

Berry Hill managed to score again from a well worked backs moved.

During the build-up to the try, North's Joel Phillips was struck on the back of the head, causing a broken jaw.

This caused much re-jigging and North prop Featherstone found himself at scrum half.

This gave North a foothold in the game, but Berry Hill's tight five, who were excellent on the day, shut the game down and, after some powerful carries in midfield, they managed to breach the North line again.

North managed to fight back from a Sheppard try after another brilliant break from full back Josh Davies.

However, it was Berry Hill who had the last say and, with time running out, they managed to score their fourth try, allowing them to claim the bonus point.