Another spirited performance only yields a bonus point reports Clive Book

On this freezing afternoon, Avon knew that the Yatton threat would come from their talented backline and so it proved. Within 5 minutes Avon were 12 nil down as they fell off early tackles and looked like they could be in for a long afternoon.

The visitors however showed they were not there to make up the numbers when they scored off their first attack when Chaz Meddick finished off a powerful catch and drive.

Defences were never on top in this free scoring game and Yatton added two more tries before Avon hit back with another two tries of their own. The first came from Josh Harding Wyatt, then a length of the field effort was finished off by skipper Scott Book following a searing break by scrum half Alex Gapper. This left the score at 26-15 in Yatton's favour at half time.

A Rob Fitch penalty just after the restart closed the gap further but Yatton extended their lead with another try. Then Avon clocked up their attacking bonus point with their 4th try as Damian Sawyer got around the outside of the home defence to score close to the posts. Sam Book celebrated his 30th birthday by then adding a fifth for Avon to bring the score back to 38-30. Chasing the game in search of an unlikely win, Avon conceded again and eventually succumbed to a 45-30 defeat in a thrilling end to end game.

Avon will know that they will need to tighten up their first-up tackling if they are going to have even a slim hope of avoiding relegation. However they will be more than pleased by the performance of young Sam Wykes who was outstanding in the back row and well deserved his man of the match award.