Barry Everitt preserved London Irish's unbeaten Premiership record with a dramatic last-gasp penalty at the Memorial Stadium to end a 16-16 draw with Bristol.

Fly-half Everitt struck in the eighth minute of injury time, just when Bristol looked to have done enough to secure a hard-earned victory.

Second-half tries from wingers David Rees and Spencer Brown gave Bristol the edge, but Everitt came up trumps when it really mattered.

Although he missed three penalty attempts, he kept his cool amid huge pressure after referee Tim Miller offered him the chance to salvage a draw when Bristol's forwards infringed.

The result means that Irish stay unbeaten, having recorded victories over Harlequins and Leeds, while Bristol will view today's clash as one that got away.

They looked home and dry thanks to the combined efforts of Rees and Brown.

Rees reminded England boss Clive Woodward of his finishing power with a brilliant 40-metre run to the line, while Brown pounced on 65 minutes following sniping approach work by Bristol scrum-half Agustin Pichot.

It looked as if Irish would be left ruing Everitt's missed kicks, failures which ruined his 100record from 18 shots at goal during the Quins and Leeds matches.

Both Bristol kickers - Shane Drahm and his half-time substitute Felipe Contepomi - suffered off-days with the boot, botching five shots at goal between them, a statistic that probably undermined Bristol's victory hopes.

Australian Drahm, despite slotting two penalties, threw a couple of wild interception passes during the opening nine minutes.

Irish wing Paul Sackey would have sprinted 70 metres to score from the first one, but referee Miller penalised the Exiles for offside, and Drahm found the target.

But there was to be no reprieve just eight minutes later when centre Justin Bishop capitalised on Drahm's glaring error 35 metres out. Everitt's conversion, and a later penalty, meant the visitors led 10-6 at half-time.

Bristol came out firing for the second period, and within two minutes conjured up a stunning try.

Centre Phil Christophers made a telling break from inside his own half, yet Rees still had it all to do when he received the ball.

But combining pace and power, he brushed off two attempted tackles to squeeze over in the corner.

The game then became a nip and tuck affair as Everitt restored Irish's advantage through a short-range penalty, but a 40-metres Contepomi strike made it 14-13 to the home team.

When Pichot then delivered a scoring pass to Brown, it looked as though the points were Bristol's, even allowing for an Everitt penalty eight minutes from time which narrowed the Exiles' arrears to three points.

Brown limped off in injury time, but referee Miller somehow allowed eight minutes of injury time, long enough for Everitt to level the scores and keep Irish well placed among the early season Premiership pace-setters.