However, it was the visitors who were first on the scoreboard. A Bristol scrum on the home side's twenty-two allowed Sam Cox to burst through the Quins defence and present his centre partner Luke Arscott with the scoring pass for the first try of the match. Fly half Danny Gray added the extras to put Bristol seven points in front with nine minutes on the clock.

A break from Charlie Amesbury then took Quins up to Bristol's twenty-two only for the visitors to halt play by conceding a penalty. Tom Williams kicked to the corner and from the resulting lineout, Jimmy Richards was driven over the line for Quins opening points at the end of the first quarter. Williams missed the conversion but five minutes before the break, Chris Hala'Ufia broke down the blindside from a scrum on the visitors twenty-two to touchdown unopposed and put the hosts into a three-point lead (10-7).

Quins increased their advantage just before the half ended, as Steve So'oialo set-up Williams to burst through the Bristol defence and score the third try of the night under the posts. This time the Quins fly half had no trouble adding the two extra points on offer, meaning the home side went into the break with a ten point lead (17-7).

After a number of substitutions and a period of largely forgettable play, Quins back division suddenly created a smooth, free flowing move in which So'oialo and Duffy created a second score for Williams and with it a bonus point. This meant Quins had a commanding 22-7 lead going into the final quarter and with five minutes left on the clock, Amesbury was on the receiving end of a cross-field kick from Williams to claim the home sides fifth and final try that completed the scoring in the match.

Final score, 27-7.

NEC Harlequins XV: 15. Gavin Duffy, 14. Adam Thompstone, 13. Tosh Masson, 12. Jordan Turner-Hall, 11. Charlie Amesbury, 10. Tom Williams, 9. Steve So'oialo, 1. Ceri Jones, 2. Jimmy Richards, 3. Mark Lambert, 4. Nicolas Spanghero, 5. Simon Miall, 6. Tom Guest, 7. Will Skinner, 8. Chris Hala'Ufia

Replacements: 16. James Hayter, 17. Alex Rogers, 18. Ricky Nebbett, 19. George Robson, 20. Luke Sherriff, 21. Phil Burgess, 22. Danny Care

Scorers:
Tries: Richards, Hala'Ufia, Williams (2), Amesbury
Conversion: Williams