Birmingham & Solihull 36 Bristol 40: Played two, won two – but Paul Hull is rightly concerned about his Bristol Rugby side's stuttering start to life in the Championship.

Bristol, relegated from the Guinness Premiership at the end of last season, secured their first away win and first try-scoring bonus point of the season at Sharmans Cross Road.

But despite scoring six tries they were wildly out of sorts as last season's third-tier champions pushed them all the way.

Head coach Hull described his team as lacking urgency – and they were strangely lethargic against hard-working opposition who were sharper and more alert at the breakdown.

Bristol regularly conceded soft turnover ball – and were worryingly off the pace in defence – as they followed their unconvincing opening-day win over London Welsh with a second substandard display.

The main highlights were provided by debutant centre Jack Adams, with the former Gloucester man showing his Premiership class by scoring two tries and regularly punching holes in the home defence.

The set-piece also functioned well, with Bristol enjoying particular success at the scrum, scoring a pushover try through Dan Montagu from one five-metre scrum and forcing a penalty try from another.

But the pros were certainly outweighed by the cons as Birmingham & Solihull's spirit and work-rate almost brought them an unlikely victory.

"It's a weird feeling, having a bonus-point win and being disappointed, but we are disappointed with the performance – we let ourselves down in certain areas," said Hull.

"We made handling errors and we lacked urgency. They seemed to win those 50-50 balls on the ground and they had that bit of bite. We were second to that bounce of the ball and second to those 50-50s, and that concerns me.

"We'll have to look at that and speak about it on Monday to find out why we were so lethargic and didn't have that urgency. We just didn't look sharp.

"We know it's going to be tough and we've had two wins out of two – but this was a day where it didn't work for us. We're only two games in and we're still working, but the performance concerns me."

But Hull is adamant he and his side are ready for the challenges of the Championship despite finding several faults in their performances so far.

"I spoke to Andy Key at Leeds and he told me about the warm welcome we'll get at grounds and the fact every game will be a big game," said Hull.

"We're just getting used to that – but we have to get used to it very quickly. I really enjoyed this experience – it was a good crowd, it was a great day for rugby, it was a good, firm pitch. It was perfect. If you can't play rugby in these environments and with this atmosphere, you shouldn't play."

Adrian Jarvis, who went on to miss three conversion attempts, gave the visitors an early lead, before former Bristol fly-half Mark Woodrow levelled for the hosts.

Bristolian Woodrow enjoyed a good day from the tee, landing 21 points and failing with only one of his nine attempts at goal.

His kicking was the end product that kept his hard-working side in the contest, but one area where they came up short was the scrum – and Montagu took advantage by powering over for the first try of the afternoon.

Bristol's set-piece dominance then brought them a penalty try, with Jarvis converting for a 15-3 lead after 15 minutes.

But this did not prove the catalyst for Hull's men to dominate the match. Instead, they were drawn into a battle that proved far too close for comfort.

Woodrow and Jarvis exchanged penalties, before Bees skipper Rob Connolly – a flanker playing out of position in the centre – went over for the home side's first try.

Woodrow's conversion made it 18-13, before the impressive Adams went over for his first Bristol try, racing 55 metres after his side had snaffled turnover ball.

Woodrow's injury-time penalty saw his side back to within seven points at the break – and Bristol could not shake off their determined hosts after the restart.

Their poor ball retention saw Reece Spee race from within his own half to score shortly after the restart, with Woodrow's conversion drawing the scores level at 23-23.

Skipper Jason Spice battled his way over following another scrum to restore Bristol's lead, but the Bees stayed in touch thanks to another Woodrow penalty after Roy Winters was sin-binned for killing the ball.

Adams looked to have put daylight between the sides with his second try but Woodrow remained a thorn in Bristol Rugby's side and his penalty saw his side close the deficit to four points at 33-29.

Adams came close to what would have been a deserved hat-trick but knocked on as he attempted to take Mark Davies' pass.

Winger Dan Norton followed up his opening-day try against London Welsh when he went over on 74 minutes, with replacement fly-half Davies converting.

But a late defensive horror show from Lee Robinson allowed Ronnie McLean to grab a third try for the home side, giving Hull plenty to think about ahead of Sunday's home match against Rotherham.