BRISTOL 19, OXFORD UNIVERSITY 10: Oxford suffered their first defeat of the season when they lost to a strong Bristol second team in a tight match at Clifton last night.
Despite an excellent try by wing Will Ellerby and two well-taken kicks by fly-half Matt Honeyben, the Dark Blues failed to capitalise on some excellent breaks
Bristol looked sharp in the backs, while prop Andrew Sheridan proved a handful in both the scrum and the loose.
The score was 3-3 at half-time, after which Blues skipper Fraser Gemmell and full back Tim Barlow were replaced to protect minor hamstring worries.
The turning point came when Blues' centre Stuart Douglas was sin-binned for not rolling away in the tackle.
Bristol used the space to stretch clear with a converted try and three penalties.
No sooner was Douglas back on, than prop Matt Street was sin-binned for collapsing a rolling maul.
But this galvanised the side and Ellerby's try set up an exciting finish.
Oxford Univ: Barlow (Dixon), Rubie, Douglas, Dick, Ellerby, Honeyben, Taberner, Tkachuk, Griffiths, Nwume (Street), C Edwards, Russell, Gemmell (Woods 40), Durham, Lubans.
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