Evening Post match report

Old Bristolians clinched the Charles Saunders Combination Vase for the first time with a battling display in dreadful conditions at Clifton – and immediately set their sights on also securing the Gloucester One title.

Jonny Biggins' close-range third-minute try, plus a penalty in each half from fellow flanker Simon Hawkins, edged the Failand club to success in what stand-in skipper Mike Barton termed "the first of three cup finals to end our season".

"Now we've got two more to go in the league (away to Ashley Down and home to Bishopston) for promotion and the championship. This was a massive effort and we'll enjoy it before we get ready to go again," he added.

Barton, exhausted after making his first appearance since breaking his hand eight weeks ago, then paid tribute to strength and fitness coach Ben Morris.

He said: "The reason why we were so strong at the end was because of Ben's Monday night indoor sessions. They really paid dividends tonight."

Bristolians were quickest out of the blocks on a bitterly cold evening made worse by non-stop driving rain, blitzing Colstonians at a five-metre scrum for Biggins to touch down for an unconverted score.

Holders Colstonians gradually got a foothold in the game and pulled back three points 10 minutes later when George Burrows landed a penalty for not releasing 30 metres out.

The same offence gave Hawkins the chance to land his first kick, from 40 metres, in the 26th minute, only for Colstonians to take a 9-8 lead before the break with two further Burrows kicks.

Dan Denning's side, though, struggled to break out of their own half in the second period as Bristolians, totally dominant in the scrum and also enjoying far more success at the line-out, enjoyed a virtual monopoly on possession.

Yet despite being under siege, Colstonians deserved great credit for a gritty defensive effort in which they conceded only three points, Hawkins landing what proved to be a match-winning 30-metre penalty for hands in a ruck in the 47th minute.

The lead may have been just two points, but Bristolians were never seriously threatened and would probably have won by a wider margin if they had shoved the ball up their collective jumpers and kicked more for the corners instead of still trying to attack with the ball in hand on such a filthy night.