Narrow defeat highlights key areas to improve

LIAM Middleton has been nothing if not level-headed throughout Bristol’s Championship campaign to date. So, the man who celebrated his side’s table-topping achievement by offering his players a straightforward “well done” was unlikely to overreact to yesterday’s defeat in Penzance.

The Bristol head coach, better than anyone else, knows that the rugby played in May – not February – will determine the identity of this season’s Championship winners.

1. ​

   Bristol centre Luke Eves is just caught by a Pirates defender Pictures: johnwhitemedia.co.uk

2. ​

   Bristol prop Mark Irish is held up

3. ​

   Bristol flanker Henry Vanderglas hands off a tackler

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   Bristol scrum-half Ruki Tipuna on a run

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   Hooker Rhys Lawrence makes ground

That rule can be applied both positively and negatively to the league leaders, particularly when they have just been beaten by a side they could face again when it really counts.

But while Middleton will have seen aspects to please him at the Mennaye Field – Henry Vanderglas’ barnstorming contribution an obvious example – he will also have left Cornwall somewhat concerned by areas of his team’s performance.

A one-point defeat away from home to Pirates, with Roy Winters, Josh Ovens, James Merriman and Fautua Otto all missing, is certainly no disaster – and nor would it be in the first leg of a knockout play-off clash.

But Middleton saw his side shaded in the physical battle by a dynamic Pirates team, he saw two of his players lose their discipline and earn yellow cards, he saw dropped and forward passes, and he saw his players lack composure at key stages.

That assessment is harsh on a Bristol team who contributed significantly to a stirring game and lost by a point. But, where Middleton and Bristol are concerned, the next few months will not be a time for plucking the occasional positive from a narrow loss – it will be about eradicating the errors to ensure the tightest games are won.

Pirates, of course, are still playing for league positions – and the difference between finishing second and third is one play-off point and immeasurable psychological gains.

But Middleton denied the game meant more to yesterday’s hosts than it did to his men now they have guaranteed top spot. “I don’t think it meant more to them – I just think they outplayed us,” he said. “It meant a lot to our boys and they worked very hard – but Pirates worked hard and it meant a lot to them.

“The difference was game-management and execution – and they just outdid us on that. I think they carried harder than us. We posed them a lot of questions when we stretched them, but, around the tight stuff, they held on a bit stronger than us.

“The effort was phenomenal, outstanding. But you have to

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