Frampton Cottrell 2nds 45

North Bristol 2nds 12

DECIMATED by late withdrawals, North Bristol were soon in trouble from an eager Frampton Cottrell, whose first real effort after four minutes produced a good unconverted three-quarter try.

North took a body blow after seven minutes, when action-man, Matt Bowden, suffered a bad leg injury from a collision.

Almost at once Frampton enjoyed the good fortune of a missed forward pass, before powering on to score a converted try at 12-0.

North’s front row of Bes Reed, Tony Booth and Purves Nabi led the visitor’s forward effort, though none was really on his best form. Competitive at scrums and lineouts, the pick of North’s pack was Alex Temple who toiled throughout.

He came close to several driven try efforts too, without any luck, until just before the interval, when he touched down for North Bristol’s only first-half score.

Meanwhile, the home side scored three more tries, all converted, to cruise into the break 33-5 ahead.

After the restart, North became more competitive and a forward-based attack threatened at once.

Yet, paradoxically, it was an unusually off-form pairing of brothers, Ryan and Matt Hazard at half-back, whose quick thinking from a penalty-tap brought a try for the former, converted by the latter and a 33-12 deficit.

Fullback, Vince Tesson, was courageous under the high ball and eager in the tackle for the visitors, while Geoffrey Subde and Lance Cassemis showed determination and pace in attack also, but North’s failings were their defensive inconsistency and poor ball retention, as Frampton ran in two more tries to finish comfortable winners by 45-12.