Bristol Shoguns 53-24 Waterloo Drummers

Italian sevens star Marko Stanojevic blitzed Waterloo Drummers with four tries as Bristol Shoguns won the Powergen Challenge Shield at Twickenham last month. The winger, who has a dual English and Italian qualification, touched down between the 37th and 67th minutes of a 10 try thriller.

Bristol led 20-7 at half time thanks to superb tries from Owen Evans and Stanojevic, both converted by Danny Gray, who also kicked two penalties. Evans’ ninth minute score came after Chris Morgan broke downfield and, from the resulting phases, Gray cut out three players with a long pass to send his winger in at the corner. Stanojevic scored from further out, a 60-metre cut inside and run to the posts to put the Shoguns into a commanding lead.

Waterloo lost Gareth Davies just before half time when he was stretchered off, before Jan Van Deventer pulled back a try when he picked up a loose ball and stepped out of Paul Hodgson’s tackle to race away from halfway. But it was short respite and Hodgson’s mazy run through a crowded midfield saw him offloading to Stanojevic, who touched down in the corner for Gray to convert.

Handley added a penalty to his conversion of Van Deventer’s try, but Stanojevic’s interception try from halfway effectively put them out of sight. Drummers’ hooker Chris Tyms powered his way over in the 62nd minute and Stanojevic collected his fourth try after 67 minutes, with replacements Richard Hunt and Brett Davey wrapping up victory.