Bristol paid a heavy price for their transgressions as they were heavily beaten 51-17 in the Zurich Premiership clash by Gloucester.

They had Garath Archer sent off in the first half and when Julian White was sin-binned in the second half they were always fighting a desperate rearguard action.

As a result they suffered their heaviest ever defeat at Kingsholm, in front of a crowd of nearly 8,500.

The contest was effectively over by half time as Gloucester played with power and pace to take Bristol apart and lead 23-10.

Bristol surprisingly had two periods of supremacy. They started each half better than Gloucester but made little of it.

Gloucester claimed two of their six tries in the first half through backrow players Andy Hazell and Junior Paramore.

David Rees claimed Bristol's first half try his pace taking him past several defenders.

Then came the crucial change with Archer's punch ending in his dismissal by Welsh referee Nigel Williams.

With three penalties and a conversion from Ludovic Mercier and a conversion from Henry Paul, Gloucester had things sewn up by half time, Shane Drahm adding a conversion and a penalty for Bristol.

The visitors emerged strongly at the start of the second half, dominating for 10 minutes, but still failing to score.

When Gloucester got going it was one-way traffic. Chris Catling joined the line to score the first of Gloucester's four second-half tries but was injured in the process and ended up in hospital with a dislocated shoulder.

With Bristol's pack under intense pressure Gloucester finally drove them over their own line for Chris Fortey to score, and with Gloucester making wholesale changes Andy Gomarsall came on to exert a major influence.

He scorched through for a solo try and then James Simpson-Daniel ended the match with a superb try.

By this time Mercier was back on target after unusual first half failings and converted all four tries.

Bristol showed what might have been with a try by Andrew Sheridan when they were down to 13 players and Drahm converted.