Bristol undone by last-gasp try

An injury-time try from England wing Ugo Monye shattered Bristol's hopes of a second victory of the season as they went down 14-17 to Harlequins on Sunday.

The result leaves the relegation favourites, who had gone 14-10 ahead through a 73rd-minute penalty try, rooted firmly to the bottom of the Guinness Premiership.

Bristol, under the guidance of assistant coach Paul Hull following the departure on Friday of Richard Hill after six years, took the lead after wing David Lemi was barged off the ball as he chased a kick behind Quins' line.

A losing bonus point for the hosts will provide little comfort for Hull but he can take some encouragement from a battling display at the Memorial Stadium.

Bristol got off to a shaky start, losing fly-half Adrian Jarvis in the third minute with a leg injury as Quins controlled possession and dominated in terms of territory.

A stretched but resolute defence however denied the visitors during an opening quarter, before Bristol scored from their first real attack of the game

Powerful

Wing Lee Robinson's powerful break split the Quins defence before they moved the ball wide for hooker David Blaney to feed Neil Brew with the scoring pass.

A touchline conversion by Ed Barnes made it 7-0, but Quins responded within eight minutes, former England scrum-half Andy Gomarsall sending hooker Gary Botha in from 15-metres out.

Malone missed the conversion and Barnes fired a penalty wide shortly afterwards, leaving them with a slender but deserved 7-5 lead at half-time.

It took just two minutes of the second half for Quins to wipe out the advantage, Malone sending Strettle sprinting away when Perry spilled possession inside his own 22.

Bristol tighthead prop Darren Crompton and his opposite number Ceri Jones were both sin-binned 12 minutes from time and five minutes later came the penalty try to give Bristol the lead.

Barnes added the extras but Monye struck the killer blow and Malone converted to take the Londoners into fourth place and play-off contention above Leicester and Bath.

The defeat leaves Bristol 12 points behind 11th-placed Worcester and, with just seven Premiership fixtures remaining, an almost impossible task to avoid playing next season in National League One.