Match Report: Gallagher Premiership: Harlequins 19-27 Bristol Bears

Harlequins 19-27 Bristol Bears, Twickenham Stoop
Scorecard

Bristol Bears successfully overcame a 19-point effort from Marcus Smith as they defeated Harlequins by an eight-point margin in the fourth round of the Gallagher Premiership at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

This is Bristol's third win from four games as they are at second place in the table while Harlequins are at fifth place after suffering their second defeat in the competition.

In an eventful first half-hour of the game, Bristol raced off but Nathan Hughes was held over the line while Semi Radradra on his first appearance this season missed a chance as he knocked on a pass from Ioan Lloyd.

Meanwhile, Marcus Smith kicked three back to back penalties to get Harlequins to a 9-0 lead. Wilco Louw thought he extended Harlequins' lead further with a dive from close range but his effort was ruled out by TMO.

As the half-time was approaching, the visitors opened their account as Dan Thomas dotted down around the corner but Callum Sheedy's conversion went wide as the teams finished the opening half with a 9-5 scoreline.

Pat Lam's side extended the lead further with touchdown from Steven Luatua immediately after the break and Sheedy improved it making the scoreline 9-12. As Smith and Sheedy exchanged penalties in the next few minutes, the gap between the sides continue to remain at three points at the end of the 50th minute.

Harry Randall's pass in the 56th minute increased Bristol's lead to eight points and in 11 minutes later Niyi Adeolokun also went over the line which took their tally to 27 points and it proved enough despite a late converted try from Smith.

Team line-up:

Harlequins: Brown; Lynagh, Lang, Tapuai, R Chisholm; Smith, Care; Els, Baldwin, Louw, Lamb, Young, J Chisholm, Evans, Dombrandt

Reserves: Elia, Garcia Botta, Kerrod, Tizard, Lawday, Landajo, Anyanwu, Green.

Bristol Bears: Malins; Naulago, Radradra, O'Conor, Lloyd; Sheedy, Randall; Thomas, Capon, Afoa, Attwood, Holmes, Luatua, Thomas, Hughes.

Reserves: Byrne, Woolmore, Lahiff, Joyce, Heenan, Uren, Leiua, Adeolokun.