Report: London Scottish 17-25 Bristol Rugby

Marco Mama, Mitch Eadie, Josh Ovens and David Lemi all crossed at the Richmond Athletic Ground as the visitors went back to the top of the Greene King IPA Championship.

In a tightly-contested first period – which saw no points until the 24th minute – Mark Sorenson dotted down from close range to give Bristol a narrow lead.

And the visitors doubled their advantage four minutes later when Marco Mama powered his way over the whitewash for an unconverted try.

London Scottish reduced the deficit to 7-10 before half-time as Matt Hawke accelerated through the midfield to fly in under the posts, while Lydon converted.

The home side leveled proceedings when Lydon added a long-range three pointer to his tally, before Max Maidment was yellow carded, reducing the Exiles to fourteen men.

And Bristol took full advantage, as replacement Josh Ovens burrowed over following a surge at the driving lineout.

With Scottish back to a full quota, a well-worked lineout saw Adam Kwasnicki catch the Bristol pack napping to fly over. Dan Newton’s angled conversion drew the scores level, once again, at 17-17.

That lasted for less than two minutes, however, as David Lemi marked his one-hundredth appearance with a try, darting down the outside channel to score Bristol’s fourth of the afternoon.

Nicky Robinson’s smartly executed drop-goal kept the scoreboard ticking over, and Andy Robinson’s men held firm to record victory at the Richmond Athletic Ground.

London Scottish:

Peter Lydon; Matt Williams, Matt Hawke, Connor Braid, Miles Mantella; Dan Newton, Jamie Stevenson; Mark Lilley, David Cherry, Max Maidment, Adam Preocanin, Josh Thomas Brown, Chevvy Pennycook, Chris Walker, Mark Bright (c).

Replacements: James Hallam (for Mark Lilley, 48 mins), Adam Kwasnicki (for David Cherry, 48 mins), Stewart Maguire (for Max Maidment, 72 mins), Tai Tuisamoa (for Adam Preocanin, 55 mins), Gregor Gillanders (for Josh Brown, 64 mins), Matt Heeks (for Matt Williams, 72 mins), Lee Millar (for Peter Lydon, 60 mins).

Bristol Rugby:

Jack Wallace; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Ben Mosses, David Lemi; Matthew Morgan, Dwayne Peel (c); Jack O'Connell, Ross McMillan, Gaston Cortes, Glen Townson, Mark Sorenson, Ryan Jones, Marco Mama, Mitch Eadie.

Replacements: Chris Brooker (for Ross McMillan, 73 mins), James Hall (for Gaston Cortes, 73 mins), Ben Glynn (for Glen Townson, 79 mins), Josh Ovens (for Ryan Jones, 40 mins), Craig Hampson (for Dwayne Peel, 43 mins), Nicky Robinson (for Matthew Morgan, 51 mins), Gareth Maule (for Jack Tovey, 80 mins).

Referee: JP Doyle
Attendance: 2,098