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Bristol: (15) 15
Pens: Strange 5
Leicester: (0) 3
Pens: Broadfoot
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Jason Strange kicked five first-half penalties as Bristol overcame an under-strength Leicester in front of a record home crowd of just under 12,000.
Strange slotted four penalties inside the first 20 minutes as Leicester's forwards failed to assert themselves.
Leicester's Will Johnson was sin-binned before half-time for a foul and Strange made him pay with his fifth penalty.
Ross Broadfoot kicked Leicester's points but Bristol finished on top and could have won by a much bigger margin.
Leicester's afternoon went from bad to worse when former Bristol centre Daryl Gibson went off injured in his first match after an eight-week absence.
Leicester rested skipper Martin Corry, hooker George Chuter, fly-half Andy Goode and full-back Geordan Murphy, among others.
And Bristol wasted little time making their mark, with Strange's four penalties putting Bristol 12 points clear inside an opening quarter the Tigers would rather have forgotten.
They found themselves under siege for most of the first half and when number eight Johnson was sin-binned six minutes before half-time Strange struck his fifth penalty.
Nine minutes into the second half Leicester wing Dan Hipkiss, who was comfortably his team's biggest attacking threat, made a sniping run which led to Bristol infringing.
Broadfoot landed a short-range penalty to finally get the Tigers on the board, but that was as good as it got for the visitors.
As in the first half, Bristol had plenty of try-scoring chances, only for a combination of committed Leicester defence and poor finishing to frustrate them.
Bristol coach Richard Hill:
"Maybe they felt this was a game when they could rest a few players and maybe we were fortunate they took us a bit lightly.
"I was surprised it was that comfortable, but we made very few errors. This result is a massive step towards keeping this club in the Premiership."
Leicester boss Pat Howard:
"It was a poor performance, no question about that. Some blokes still turned up today and were very good, but a lot of players will have to take a long, hard look at themselves.
"It was probably the poorest performance while I have been coaching, but it is my fault. The buck stops with me - I made a choice to make the changes and I will cop it sweet."
Bristol: Stortoni; Robinson, Lima, Cox, Lemi; Strange, Perry; Hilton, Regan, Crompton; Winters, Llewellyn; Salter, El Abd, Ward-Smith.
Replacements: Irish, Nelson, Sambucetti, Lewis, Higgitt, Hayes, Rauluni.
Leicester: Vesty; Hipkiss, Rabeni, Gibson, Varndell; Broadfoot, Cole; Morris, Buckland, White; Cullen, L Deacon; B Deacon, Abraham, Johnson.
Replacements: Taikaufa, Holford, Kay, Skinner, Bemand, Humphreys, Smith.
Referee: Dean Richards (RFU)
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