The strangest of Guinness Premiership weekends was completed yesterday with the three leaders losing, yet the table altering scarcely a jot. Indeed Gloucester, after a month in which their form has drifted alarmingly, enhanced their position at the top despite being ground into the Memorial Stadium dirt by a Bristol side emulating the feat of their footballing brethren against Southampton 24 hours earlier.

The visiting team could not complain. Despite ramming home three tries in 13 first-half minutes, they found themselves gathered into the bear-hug of the Bristol forwards, never more so than during the final minutes when Bristol ran down the clock with maul after maul, in the shadow of their own posts. The tactic may not reflect great credit on the game but Bristol will not care since the four points carry them well clear of the two clubs, Worcester and Leeds Carnegie, at the foot of the table.

Dean Ryan, Gloucester's head coach, did not mince his words. “We had ten or 12 internationals who strolled into a car crash,” he said. “It doesn't matter whether you're an international or not, we allowed it to happen as a group. There was a lack of collective character. I'm appalled and apologetic to anyone involved with Gloucester Rugby Club.”

Since Richard Hill also believed that his Bristol side were poor in the first half-hour, it became almost a contest of which West Country club could play worse. But the home side had a sure foundation at the set-piece, most notably the lineout, and the industry of two New Zealanders, Andrew Blowers and Scott Linklater, to guide them and, significantly, they did not seek to play beyond their means.

Hill does not believe in romantic rugby but his players have proved their intestinal fortitude time and again. They did so here, with two tries from driven lineouts when the temptation must have been to allow Jason Strange to kick for goal from penalties. For the second of those tries Marco Bortolami, the Gloucester captain, was in the sin-bin for offside play and, in his absence, Bristol scored ten points without reply.

Strange had started the match with two penalty goals, but watched in horror as Bristol's midfield defence was torn apart. Jack Adams, back after a spell with Moseley, was brought down five metres short, but Jeremy Paul and Chris Paterson were on hand to send James Simpson-Daniel into the corner. Three minutes later, Simpson-Daniel returned the favour with a chip and chase, from which Adams scored.

When Anthony Allen intercepted Strange's pass to run in from halfway, Gloucester must have believed that this would be their day. Paterson, however, was showing unwanted frailty under the gaze of his national coach, Frank Hadden. The Scotland fly half was mis-hitting his goal kicks and

trying to force the play and it was no surprise when he gave way to Willie Walker before the halfway point of the second half. By then, Bristol had forced their noses in front. Linklater was driven over for their first try and, after Bortolami's departure, Jason Hobson scored the second to give Bristol a six-point advantage at the interval that must have surprised even them.

Strange added a fourth penalty as the second half resumed and Ryan, running out of patience, called capped players from four countries off the field and replaced them with individuals such as Walker and Alasdair Strokosch who could, in his words, do the simple things well.

But Strange, as he did on a filthy night in November 2006 against Gloucester, dropped a vital goal after a long period of phase play by his forwards and it proved the difference. Walker kicked two penalties to edge Gloucester to a losing bonus point, but the visiting team spurned two try-scoring opportunities and, once Bristol clamped the ball in their hands, they would not let it or a handsome victory go.

Scorers: Bristol: Linklater (32min), Hobson (37). Conversions: Strange 2. Penalty goals: Strange 4 (4, 9, 21, 46). Dropped goal: Strange (64). Gloucester: Tries: Simpson-Daniel (12), Adams (14), Allen (27). Conversion: Paterson. Penalty goals: Paterson (47), Walker 2 (69, 71).

Scoring sequence (Bristol first): 3-0, 6-0, 6-5, 6-10, 9-10, 9-17, 16-17, 23-17 (half-time), 26-17, 26-20, 29-20, 29-23, 29-26.

Bristol: L Arscott; L Robinson (rep: J Taumalolo, 56; rep: S Cox, 75), R Higgitt, D Hill, D Lemi; J Strange, B O’Riordan; D Crompton, S Linklater, J Hobson (rep: A Clarke, 77), R Winters, S Hohneck, M Salter, J El Abd, A Blowers.

Gloucester: I Balshaw; J Simpson-Daniel, J Adams, A Allen, L Vainikolo; C Paterson (rep: W Walker, 54), G Cooper (rep: R Lawson, 49); N Wood (rep: A Dickinson, 69), J Paul (rep: A Titterrell, 48), C Nieto, M Bortolami (sin-bin 37-47), W James (rep: P Buxton, 64), L Narraway (rep: A Strokosch, 48), A Hazell, G Delve.

Referee: W Barnes.

Attendance: 11,418