Oxford Harlequins put in a decent display despite losing 22-8 at Bournemouth in South West 1.

The bigger, more powerful Bournemouth side eventually held sway, although Quins started well.

Debutant prop Johan Ferreira and stand-in lock Paul DeLange were prominent early on before fly half Mark Forth put Quins ahead with a well-judged penalty on ten minutes.

The visitors were caught cold, however, when hooker Andy Spikings scored in the corner.

Quins went close several times with Matt Young, Ben Nicholl and Huw Jones to the fore, but saw flanker Nick Goodger sin-binned on 29 minutes.

Flanker Jack Petelo scored out wide to give Bournemouth a 10-3 half-time lead, and he added a second after the interval, which wing James Payne converted.

Quins lost Ferreira to injury, but then scored the try of the game.

Full back Jones fielded a long kick on his ten-metre line and beat four defenders, then wing Andy Noyce linked up brilliantly to send centre Nick Sevier over.

Prop Allen Manning ploughed over on 72 minutes.

Scrum half Anthony Cope and Forth kept Quins on the offensive to the final whistle.

Results elsewhere mean Quins are still only two points adrift at the bottom of the table, so there is everything to play for.