London Irish 41-21

Bristol feel the pain of their potentially final defeat

Mark Mapletoft inspired London Irish to a relegation dogfight victory which preserved their Zurich Premiership status and left trouble-torn Bristol Shoguns on the bottom of the table.

The 31-year-old stand-off justified his selection ahead of regular fly-half Barry Everitt by contributing 16 points with a faultless display of place-kicking.

And he was also the springboard for a superb attacking performance which provided tries for Irish hooker Naka Drotske, centres Rob Hoadley and Geoff Appleford, wing Paul Sackey and full-back Michael Horak.

I believe someone will pick up what is left and bring Bristol back into rugby because there are too many people who are too passionate about it. Peter Thorburn Bristol coach

But while the Exiles' Premiership survival was assured well before full-time, Bristol's future is shrouded in uncertainty.

The merger which will effectively see them swallowed up by Bath is still on the agenda and, with Division One champions Rotherham's promotion still to be ratified, the relegation battle could still turn out to have been a phoney war.

Bristol began seeking salvation on the pitch rather than in the committee room as they built a 10-0 lead inside the first quarter-hour.

Full-back Shane Drahm kicked a penalty and converted flanker Craig Short's try, but by the end of the half the momentum was all with Irish.

Mapletoft created a score for Drotske, and although Drahm added another penalty for Bristol, the Exiles scored 17 game-breaking points in the closing seven minutes of the half.

Hoadley stepped his way over to score at the posts before Sackey sent in Appleford, Mapletoft converting both tries and adding a penalty in between.

I disagree with relegation, but it's the rules. If you finish bottom you go down Conor O'Shea London Irish chief executive

After the break, Sackey touched down his own kick ahead and Horak raced through a huge gap in the closing minutes to snuff out any hopes Bristol had of clawing back a bonus point for a narrow defeat.

Felipe Contepomi ensured Bristol bowed out in style by superbly crafting a consolation try for flanker Michael Lipman.

But when the Shoguns players emerged to thank their loyal fans, they were doing so for what could possibly be the final time.

London Irish: Horak; Sackey, Appleford, Hoadley, Barrett; Mapletoft, Martens; Worsley, Drotske, Hardwick, Strudwick, Casey, Danaher, Dawson, Sheasby.
Replacements: Thrower, Everitt, Kennedy, Flavin, Roche, Hatley, Halford.

Bristol: Drahm; Rees, Higgins, Gibson, Christophers; Contepomi, Pichot; Sheridan, Johnstone, Bergamaschi, C Morgan, S Brown, Short, Lipman, Oakley.
Replacements: Skuse, Nelson, Styles, S Morgan, Shaw, Carrington, Hodgson.

Referee: Tony Spreadbury (RFU)