Gloucester Premier

Bristol Saracens 43 Cirencester 19

CIRENCESTER suffered their first defeat under director of rugby Andy Deacon when going down 43-19 to league leaders Bristol Saracens.

The first 20 minutes saw a very tight competition for possession and territory.

Against the run of play, a turnover from Cirencester and a clearance kick allowed James Fisher to pounce on the loose ball and score in the corner.

The response from the home side was immediate; a good line break from the outside centre and two missed tackles allowed the right winger over in the corner.

On 28 minutes a centre field scrum gave the home side a platform for the number eight to break and put the ball through hands for the full back to finish under the posts.

The next ten minutes became scrappy once again, the majority of the rugby being played in the middle of the pitch. Just before the half-time whistle another centre field attacking scrum saw the Bristol number 11 finish in the corner to take the score to 17-5 at the break.

The second half started with Cirencester attacking from the whistle. A trademark Fisher break should have resulted in a score but the lack of support allowed a Bristol turnover and the opportunity to clear their lines.

Six minutes later saw Cirencester fail to exit their own 22 and a turnover in contact allowed the Bristol captain to weave through the breakdown and under the posts to establish a 24-5 advantage.

Cirencester found field position once again and after a good driving maul the ball was spread wide. However, a mix-up in attack saw the sharp Bristol centre gather the ball and release his winger who cantered three-quarters of the pitch to finish in the corner.

It only took another three minutes before the home side crossed the line again; an infringement from the kick-off saw Bristol gain good field position from the penalty and a well-worked driving line-out allowed another converted try to make it 38-5.

With 20 minutes of the second half played Cirencester managed to put some phases together which allowed Fisher to score under the posts (38-12).

After another tight ten-minute period Bristol conceded the penalty at the breakdown and Cirencester went to the corner. This created the opportunity for a driving line-out from ten metres out which Cirencester worked well and Matt Carter powered over the line.

In the final minutes, with Cirencester still attacking and looking for the losing bonus point, the Bristol side forced an error and the turnover resulted in a break from the winger who kicked the ball deep into the away 22 only for the young Bristol full back to win the foot race and toe-poke the ball into the dead ball area.

Finishing in style, he managed to dot the ball down with an acrobatic flip to take the final score to 43-19.