England
Bristol secure Championship play-off final spot against Worcester
ESPN Staff
May 10, 2015

Bristol booked their place in the Greene King IPA Championship play-off final thanks to a 56-36 aggregate win over Rotherham.

Carrying a 12-point lead to the Abbeydale Sports Ground, Bristol saw off Rotherham 24-16 on Sunday. Alongside Bristol's work in the first leg it secured their place against Worcester Warriors in the shootout for promotion to the Aviva Premiership after they saw off London Scottish on Friday evening.

It was Bristol who got the scoreboard ticking over first with a Gavin Henson penalty but the hosts went into the break 9-6 to the good with three Tom Barrett penalties cancelling out another from Henson. Bristol held a nine-point advantage on aggregate at this stage but that was cut to just two when Jamie Broadley snaffled up a loose Marco Mama pass to go over in the corner in the early stages of the second 40.

Barrett nailed an impressive touchline conversion but Rotherham's joy proved to be short-lived. Henson cut the deficit to seven points with a penalty and then Bristol got their first try of the game. Rotherham were aggrieved at what they deemed to be a crooked feed from Bristol No.9 Dwayne Peel but when the referee allowed play to continue a neat pass from Ryan Jones put Peel down the touchline and his offload found the rampaging Mama who scored in the corner.

Barrett and Henson then both missed penalties but Bristol breathed a sigh of relief in the 71st minute when Jack Tovey broke through the Rotherham defence to score their second try. Coupled with Henson's conversion and another penalty it gave them a 20-point lead overall which proved to be too much for Rotherham.

Bristol will host the first leg of the Championship play-off final on May 20 before then travelling to Worcester a week later.

© ESPN Staff

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