Leeds suffered  a major blow with a 30-13 defeat against Bristol at Headingley, that despite leading 13-6 at the break.
Leeds made a dream start when they crossed for the first try of the game inside the first two minutes. Having kicked to touch with a penalty from half way, Kearnan Myall took a ball brilliantly at the tail before feeding Joe Bedford. The Leeds scrum half moved the ball on quickly to Alberto Di Bernardo who released Andy Tuilagi in midfield. The giant Samoan centre bumped off the first tackle then powered through the gap to score from 30 metres out. Di Bernardo added the conversion to make it 7-0.
Bristol soon hit back with a penalty after Leeds were penalised for offside in front of their own posts and Ed Barnes kicked the straight forward chance after six minutes.
Leeds had several good chances to extend their lead after that. Firstly Di Bernardo missed a penalty after 12 minutes then Jon Dunbar did brilliantly to block a kick and chased through but under pressure from Shaun Perry was just unable to regather the ball near the try line. Di Bernardo missed another penalty he would have expected to get after 17 minutes before Jonny Hepworth had a great chance to collect a cross field kick but was unable to hold onto the ball under pressure.
However, the home side did eventually get some points for their dominance. After several penalties for slowing down tactics in the ruck, referee Martin Fox lost patience with Bristol and second row Sean Hohneck was sin binned after 24 minutes. Di Bernardo elected to go for goal again and this time he was successful.
Leeds had a let off almost straight from the re-start and Bristol looked certain to score but a forward pass in the build up stopped them in their tracks just as the try line beckoned.
Bristol did manage to come away with points from their next visit to the Leeds line when Barnes kicked his second penalty after 30 minutes however this was cancelled out four minutes later by a similar effort by Di Bernardo.
Leeds had to defend their line with some brave defence after that. Firstly Tom Biggs produced a fantastic man and ball tackle to stop Anthony Elliot as he looked certain to score. Then Stuart Hooper ripped possession from Bristol under the shadow of the posts in the last second of the half to allow Di Bernardo to clear to touch and give Leeds a 13-6 lead at the break.
The home side faced a wall of pressure at the start of the second half and Bristol came out clearly looking to make amends for their first half. They camped themselves on the Leeds line for the first ten minutes of the half before referee Fox decided to sin bin John Holtby for hands in the ruck. The visitors sensed their chance and took it. Firstly, Shaun Perry was driven over from a rolling maul then, with Holtby still off the pitch, the England scrum half darted over in the opposite corner. Barnes converted the former to make it 18-13 to Bristol.
The home side's misery was complete just two minutes later when Bristol broke through again from 20 metres out and eventually centre Rob Higgitt found a way through to score. Barnes added the conversion to make it 25-13 to the visitors on the hour and brought to an end a dominant quarter from Bristol. 
The game entered a lull after this point as the visitors had established a commanding lead and it was not until the closing stages that they really began chasing the bonus point fourth try. Eventually it came when captain Joe El Abd made the extra man out wide to score. Barnes missed the conversion but it was enough to seal a 30-13 win for Bristol. For Leeds it was a 13th consecutive defeat in the Guinness Premiership and leaves them with a must win game at Worcester next Sunday.

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Holtby, Hepworth, Tuilagi, Biggs, Di Bernardo, Bedford, MacDonald, Ma'asi, McGee, Hooper, Myall, Dunbar, Fourie, Balding
Replacements: Pala'amo for McGee (64), Rawlinson for Ma'asi (71), Lund for Dunbar (HT), Clark for Fourie (66), Brooks for Di Bernardo (61), Blackett for Holtby (71), Vickerman for Hinton (75)
Bristol: Arscott, Elliott, Higgitt, Hill, Lemi, Barnes, Perry, Hilton, Regan, Crompton, Winters, Hohneck, To'oala, El Abd, Blowers
Replacements: Linklater for Regan (66), Hobson for Hilton (47), Budgett for Winters (66), Grieve for To'oala (64), O'Riordan for Perry ((75), Cox for Hill (71), Morgan for Arscott (75)
Referee: Martin Fox
Attendance: 3,841