Doncaster 26 Bristol Rugby 22: If Bristol didn't already know it, they do now: getting back into the Guinness Premiership at the first time of asking is going to be one mightily difficult challenge.

Second best against a side who had not won at home all season going into the weekend, and facing a mounting injury tally, Paul Hull's men look anything but the promotion certainties many had them down as.

Losing a tight game against Exeter is one thing; losing any kind of game against a side who lost their first six matches of the season is something entirely different.

And while Bristol Rugby could point to the untimely injuries suffered by Ross Johnston and Redford Pennycook as some justification for a lacklustre performance and disastrous result, the simple fact is they were not good enough to win.

They lacked spark and menace as Doncaster sent shockwaves through the Championship by inflicting a second defeat in eight matches on Hull's promotion hopefuls.

And after seeing his side deservedly beaten by the Yorkshiremen, who had claimed their first win of the season in their previous match against Plymouth, Bristol skipper Jason Spice admitted his players' eyes were wide open to exactly how tough a competition the Championship is.

"I guess there is some comfort in knowing we can play better, but what this tells us is that we can get tipped over by anyone," said the scrum-half.

"That is a concern, because when we come to play pressure rugby there will be no second chances. And come the time when there are no second chances, we've got to be able to perform under pressure.

"There are certainly a lot of things we have to sort out. We'll go back and look at the game more closely, but there's certainly a buy-in with the players to right this and get better – and we want to do it sooner rather than later."

Bristol bossed the opening exchanges and looked as though they would chalk up a routine victory when they eased into an 8-0 lead inside the opening 12 minutes.

Hooker Johnston scored the game's first try on seven minutes, peeling away from a maul and ignoring the options outside him to score from 10 metres after Bristol had secured line-out ball deep in Doncaster territory.

Adrian Jarvis missed the conversion but soon landed a penalty to give his side an eight-point cushion – and it was nothing less than they deserved after a positive start.

But then the visitors fell off the pace and Doncaster scored 10 unanswered points to take the lead. Fly-half Ali Warnock was the instigator of Bristol's struggles, kicking his side to within five points with a penalty before scoring and converting their first try of the afternoon.

He was the beneficiary of a direct and audacious break from home skipper Steve Lawrie, who carried the ball 40 metres before passing outside to Bevon Armitage, who waited for Warnock's arrival and supplied the fly-half with a perfect pass that made scoring a formality.

Jarvis briefly restored Bristol's lead with a penalty – but Doncaster conjured 10 points in the two minutes before half-time to take a 20-11 lead into the break.

Warnock kicked a second penalty before former Bristol scrum-half Chris Hallam added a second try for the Knights.

Adam Kettle made a piercing break through the Bristol defence – and even though he was eventually stopped by Luke Arscott, Hallam took over and enjoyed an unopposed dash to the line, giving Warnock an easy conversion.

"We felt that in the first 20 minutes we had a stronghold over them – but then we made basic errors, which we've been making over and over for the last few weeks now," said Spice.

"We made some individual tackling mistakes which cost us quite dearly. We clawed our way back a bit in that second half, but overall – almost from start to finish – it wasn't a very good performance."

A Jarvis penalty on 48 minutes made it 20-14 – but then the impressive Johnston was carried off on a stretcher with a leg injury and Bristol Rugby's momentum was checked.

Warnock knocked over a drop goal to complete a 54-minute full house of a try, two conversions, two penalties and a drop – but again Jarvis replied, cutting the Doncaster lead to 23-17.

Full-back Steve McColl got in on the drop-goal act to make it 26-17 – but Bristol enjoyed plenty of possession and territory in the final minutes.

Dan Norton set up a frantic finale when he raced from deep inside his own half to score what is becoming a signature solo try in the final minute of normal time.

And with Bristol Rugby needing a try to win the game after Jarvis failed to convert Norton's score, they were offered 13 minutes of stoppage-time in which to do so.

But, despite getting within striking distance of the home line, their composure let them down at the crucial moment – and Doncaster held on for a deserved victory.

"Their intensity was probably a little higher than ours – and that's a disappointing thing," said Spice.

"We should be able to go into any game with the same level of intensity and certainly not get outmuscled.

"I don't think we underestimated them. Every team views Bristol as the team to throw everything at – but we knew that would happen and we've got to accept that.

"Far too many times we were all over the show, and that tells me that not everyone is on the same page."