Sunday 1 May 2016 19:18, UK
A round-up of the Championship semi-finals, as Bristol and Doncaster came away with first-leg wins on Sunday.
Bedford 13-45 Bristol
Bristol took a huge step towards a place in this year's final with a six-try thrashing of Bedford in the first leg.
Flanker Olly Robinson got the scoring underway on the back of an attacking lineout. Bristol turned down the chance to kick at goal when they were awarded a penalty in the opposition half, and were rewarded for their confidence when the forwards drove the ball over the line to allow Robinson to score. The conversion from fly-half Callum Sheedy made it 7-0 to Bristol after just six minutes.
Bedford hit back as the first quarter drew to a close with hooker Charlie Care rounding off a team move to run in for a score near the touchline, Jake Sharp matching his opposite number's conversion to bring the scores level.
No 8 James Phillips handed Bristol the lead once more when he burrowed over from close range, and things went from bad to worse for the Blues when Care was shown a yellow card for pulling down a maul. Bristol made the extra man count immediately when Ross McMillan crossed for a try at the close of the half to make it 20-10 to Bristol at the break.
Jack Wallace dotted down to make it 27-10 early in the second half before Sharp reduced the arrears with a penalty.
It was to be the final scoring act for Bedford, as Bristol piled on two further tries, one from Jack Tovey and a second from Phillips to round off a convincing win.
Yorkshire Carnegie 17-30 Doncaster
The early advantage lies with Doncaster, after their dominant scrum aided them to a comfortable win over Yorkshire Carnegie.
Will Hurrell got the Doncaster scoring underway with a try after several quick phases followed an Andy Bulumakau break. Dec Cusack converted, and furthered his side's lead in the 24th minute with a shot at goal to make it 10-0.
When a Doncaster maul was collapsed loosehead prop Charlie Beech was shown a yellow card. The Knights opted to kick for the corner, and though the resulting driving maul was stopped, Latu Makaafi came close to scoring before Andy Bulumakau crossed the whitewash to make it 17-0 with half-time looming.
Kevin Sinfield managed to get three points back for Yorkshire Carnegie at the end of the half, making it 17-3 at the break.
Five minutes into the second half Doncaster had the shove on their scrum opponents, and after several penalties, the referee ran under the poles to award a penalty try.
Cusack converted but missed a penalty attempt soon thereafter, though the fly-half was successful with another shot shortly after the hour mark. Oli Goss then scored for the home side, before Cusack added another penalty for a 20-point lead.
It seemed the game would end that way before replacement Chris Walker dotted down to give his side a chance to make amends in the return leg.
