Daniel ran in two tries for Bristol

Bristol wing Brendon Daniel ran in two tries as Bristol defeated Montferrand 30-22 to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

The Shoguns are now four points behind pool four leaders Leinster and must beat the Irish side to have a chance of qualifying as one of the two best runners-up.

Daniel got the Premiership side off to the best possible start in France with his first try in the third minute and Felipe Contepomi converted his effort.

Montferrand struggled with their handling as they battled to cut the lead but finally found a way through on the half hour mark.

Xavier Sadourny sent the ball out wide to Elvis Vermeulen, who made the most of the overlap to force his way over the line.

Sebastien Viars added a conversion to level the scores.

Key incidents

3 mins: Daniel touches down 30mins: Vermeulen eases over after overlap 39mins: Vaitanaki try moves Montferrand ahead 40mins: Lecomte scores after Viars break 67mins: Daniel slides in for second try 80mins: Williams try caps Shoguns win

Montferrand, though, took the lead at the interval, lock Lyonel Vaitanaki piling over at the base of the scrum after some punishing forward play by the French side.

Viars kicked his team two points further ahead and was in the fray seconds later, surging up the middle and laying off the final ball to lock Eric Lecomte.

Bristol were unfazed by the deficit and were kept in the game courtesy of the boot of Contepomi.

Just 13 minutes from time, Bristol moved ahead for the second time in the game, once again following a smart run by Daniel.

We showed a lot of courage and tenacity in the second half Bristol coach Peter Thorburn

The former Saracens wing slid in after scrum-half Agustin Pichot, Alex Brown and Daryl Gibson worked to tear apart the Montferrand defence and send Daniel through.

With the scores at 23-22 to the visitors, Viars had a chance to win the game with an injury time penalty goal but it fell short.

And replacement full-back Jamie Williams capped the win with a try following a intercepted pass.