Aretians (Bristol) 43

Ruskin Park 29

BOTH teams delighted their fans with a feast of open running rugby. First on the board when Keogh broke through to send Bentham in at the corner, Ruskin were always struggling to counter the attacking skills of opposition scrum-half Thomas, and he put the home side ahead with a couple of neat breaks which led to tries. David Hale brought Ruskin back into the match with a try, but Thomas immediately countered with one of his own to extend Aretians lead. A marvellous individual try by Paul Ridgeon on the stroke of half time gave Ruskin hope for the second half, and when Paul Keogh finished off a fine bout of passing under the posts, early in the second period, Ruskin looked likely to win. Aretians, however, stepped up a gear and a couple of good movements in the backs, led to tries and a seven point lead. Ruskin then put pressure on the home defence in an effort to get the equaliser, only for that man Thomas to pop up in the final seconds and race 70 yards to the posts to seal victory for the home side.