Injury-ravaged Avon fall short at new League Leaders

And so it proved, with Avon including five 18 year olds and the Cheltenham side having too much pace and experience in their back line for the makeshift Avon three quarters to handle.

Once again, the Avon pack had the edge in the set piece with the front row of Meddick, Hurd and Mutlow taking a number of strikes against the head and the Book brothers, Sam and Kane, winning quality lineout ball. Avon started the game brightly and looked dangerous early on as they put a number of phases together. However, it was Chosen who had the edge in attack and scored with their first serious attack after 10 mins. They added two more before half time to give themselves a 17-0 lead at the interval.

Two more tries were added quickly in the second half before young full back Matt Thresher got his first try for Avon following a strong forward drive. Avon were unlucky not to add a couple of more tries during a strong final quarter but Chosen had no such problems as they added two late tries.

This has been a hard start to the season for Avon with injuries and unavailability testing their strength in depth. They will be hoping that, with no game this week, as many as 8 of the missing first team squad could be back for the next home game with Yatton. They will also be encouraged by the news that club skipper Scott Book has returned to training after a 10-month injury layoff and could be back in action in a few weeks.