– a moment captured by a photographer from the Bristol Evening Post. This first Conference season proved tough for the Sonics, with an opening weekend win against Worcester Saints being followed by a series of heavy defeats, including one 8–100 loss to Cardiff – still the club's record defeat. At the end of the summer 2003 campaign, the Sonics finished bottom of the South West Division, having won just two of 10 matches. For the 2004 Rugby League Conference season, national expansion and restructure found Bristol Sonics placed in the new Western division of the RLC. Cardiff Demons were replaced with Telford Raiders in an otherwise unchanged division. While the Sonics improved and won more matches – including their first ever away win, a 30–48 victory over Oxford Cavaliers – they still struggled on and off the pitch. Brief relief came in the form of a second successive trip to the York International 9s in June, where the Sonics made the quarter-finals, securing a victory over French side Montpellier along the way. At the end of the season, St Brendans Old Boys RFC had sold their ground to developers. This meant the Sonics would have to find a new home base before the start of the 2005 campaign. In the end, with no other alternative, the Sonics found themselves a new home at Old Elizabethans RFC in Hallen. 2005–2006 After the steady improvements of 2004, 2005 was another hit-and-miss year for the Sonics on the pitch. Things started badly when the RFL announced on the eve of the season that one of the South West Division's new clubs, Thames Valley Cougars, would not be entering the league. This withdrawal caused all sorts of problems for the remaining five South West clubs, with the number of gap weekends being the biggest. On top of this, Oxford Cavaliers and new club Plymouth Titans both had trouble fulfilling fixtures. Both scratched games in Bristol early in the season. For the second year running the Sonics won more games than they lost, eventually finishing third. The undoubted highlight of a troublesome year was a memorable 30-all draw with Somerset, watched by a reporter from BBC Radio Bristol. For the 2006 summer season, Bristol moved grounds again, finding a home at Aretians RFC in Little Stoke, South Gloucestershire. Player recruitment had not gone well and suddenly the Sonics found themselves going backwards. In an expanded