After encountering difficult traffic conditions on the m5 due to holiday traffic the Centurions found themselves arriving at the venue with little time to prepare and warm up for the match, however straight from the first whistle they took command. In a manner that was followed for almost the entire game Gloucester kept it simple with dives and leads up the middle by veteran running back Shaun Griffin and special full back Craig Harris. At the end of a near 60 yard drive slippery running back Ian Lakin entered the arena and punched the ball over from 5 yards for his 5th touchdown of the season.

Bristol's first drive of the game was short lived, being forced to punt after making only a few yards. The Centurions offence were back on the field rather soon, however both teams spent the next few drives cancelling each other out. It wasn't until late in the 2nd quarter until anything of note happened, the Centurions decided to pass!! Star receiver Drew Newiss recently returned from university playing duties with the Birmingham Lions was clearly outclassing his opposite defender and QB Chris Taylor initially hooked up with him on a post pattern for a 12 yard completion just inside the Apache half and then a few moments later hooked up with him again on an identical play but this time for a 7 yard touchdown reception. This time the extra point was added by Griffin to give the Centurions a 13-0 lead.

With half time fast approaching the Apache offence stepped up a gear desperately seeking to score some points before the break. From the kick off a combination of runs and passes from the Apache offence advanced them to just short of half way and then came the highlight moment of the day for the Centurions defence. The Apache running back broke clear just past the halfway line with nothing but empty field in front of him and a touchdown seemed certain. However Centurions cornerback Lewis Chapman gave a determined chase and managed to haul him down 4 yards short of the goal line. This was then followed up by 3 tackles in the next 4 plays by defensive end Ben Harris including a huge sack for a loss forcing the Apache to turnover the ball 11 yards back from where the series of plays had started.

The second half started with Centurions kicking to the Apache who promptly marched the ball back down as far as the Centurions 8 yard line. Again the Centurions were on the ropes but this time it was new signing ex premier league player Anthony Lartey saving the day on Bristol's 4th down with a crunching tackle in the back field assisted by safety Jayvon Doantien resulting in a loss of 18 yards and turnover of the ball back to the Centurions.

Now in to the 4th quarter the Centurions running backs Griffin and Lakin were heavily utilised craftily eating valuable clock time and preventing the Apache offence from getting back on the field. The highlight from a series of first downs was a 26 yard run by Lakin assisted by some impressive down field blocking by offensive linemen Dan Garbutt and Phil Bowers. The Apache offence only had 2 drives in the 4th quarter being forced to punt on both occasions by an outstanding Centurions defence, middle line backer Levi Smith leading the way with 5 solo tackles and 2 assists, just ahead of defensive end Lartey who finished his debut game for the Centurions also with 5 solo tackles but only 1 assist.

Offensive MVP: #3 Chris Taylor - QB

Defensive MVP #71 Ben Harris - DE