Photos (c) Martin Bennett / Gloucester Rugby

Gloucester Rugby secured a bonus-point win in their Premiership Rugby Cup pool fixture with Bristol Bears.

The Cherry & Whites started quickly claiming their kick-off and immediately racing into attack. The ball was recycled wide nicely to allow Jake Morris to score in the corner inside 2 minutes.

James Williams kicked the visitors first points from the tee to bring the score to 5-3 on the seventh minute.

The young Gloucester side continued to build pressure onto their West-Country rivals and claimed their second score of the game through a powerful finish in the corner from Jack Clement. George Barton converted the try beautifully from the touchline to make the score 12-3 with just over 15 minutes left of the first half.

A neat 50:22 from Tom Seabrook then set up the Cherry & Whites field position for their third in the 32nd minute. The Gloucester pack got the maul rolling and Ciaran Knight was awarded the score. George Barton once more supplied the extras to bring the score to 19-3.

However, the visitors replied quickly after a half-break from scrum-half Oscar Lennon allowed Tom Whiteley to run in under the sticks. James Williams added the extras to narrow the gap to 9 points.

Just before half-time, Seb Atkinson pounced on a loose ball inside the Bears 22 to race in under the posts for his first try in Cherry & White colours. Barton converted the try to ensure the hosts took a 26-10 lead into the break.

It was Seb Atkinson looking the liveliest after the break too, with the centre finding space to race towards the Bristol line. He was hauled down short, and Jake Kerr stopped the quick ball earning himself 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Despite that, the Bears managed to hold out from the line-out to clear their lines.

However, it wasn’t long before the hosts did get their score, a lovely miss-pass from George Barton sent Jake Morris over for his second of the game on the 50th minutes. The conversion drifted wide from Barton.

The visitors were keen to hit straight back and they did just that through a short-range finish from Macenzzie Duncan. A James Williams conversion made the score 31-17 to the hosts.

The Bears cut the gap to just 7 points with a score through Tom Whiteley with James Williams adding the extras once more. It came after a break down the right hand side.

But the Cherry & Whites didn’t panic and secured an immediate response through Seb Blake. The hooker took a pass from Matty Jones on the half-break to race under the posts. Barton added the extras to make the score 38-24.

Bristol kept on coming though, securing late score through Fred Davies to set up a big finish. The replacement hooker scored from the back of the maul and James Williams converted to narrow the gap to 7.

However, the hosts held on to secure the points with the score ending 38-31.

Cherry & White youngsters secure bonus-point win in Premiership Cup

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