This was a typical game of two halves as the extreme slope played a large part in defining the shape of the match. Playing downhill in the first half, Avon made an explosive start as the quick-thinking Ollie Flight took a short tap penalty to scamper over the tryline unopposed for the opening score after only 3 minutes play.

Just 5 minutes later, Avon doubled their score as Scott Book took clean lineout ball to set up a 20 metre driving maul before the ball was switched back to the blindside for Rory Crowther to touch down in the corner.

Nailsea/Backwell started to gradually work their way upfield but their moves too often petered out in the face of strong defence. Avon showed their attacking intent at every opportunity with half backs Alex Gapper and Tom Boreham orchestrating play beautifully. It was no surprise when Zak Harwood took a delayed pass to crash through midfield where he found replacement flanker Sam Book as the link man to send the supporting Glen Atherton over for their 3rd try.

As Avon threatened to cut loose, a Xander Davis break followed by a cleverly weighted chip from Jonny Batchelor almost resulted in another score. But Avon eventually capitalised as their pack disrupted the hosts scrum near their own line for tireless flanker Will Hayward to pounce on the loose ball for their bonus point try. With Batchelor adding the extras, Avon enjoyed a healthy 22 nil lead at half time.

But the home side still retained their belief that this could be overcome with their knowledge of the slope and the conditions and made the perfect start as they scored a converted try immediately after the interval. Avon replied in style as they set up an attacking line out deep inside the hosts half and a strong surge from the pack resulted in Ian Burnell powering over for another converted try.

This setback seemed to inspire Nailsea/Backwell as they threw off the shackles with some scintillating play from their speedy backs to narrow the deficit with two more tries after good support and offloading through the tackles. A penalty from Harwood gave Avon’s lead more daylight but Nailsea/Backwell responded again with a pushover try from the powerful pack.

With their lead now reduced to 6 points, this created a tense final 10 minutes action but, after a magnificent last ditch tackle from James Leeming, Avon managed the game well in sensibly closing play down by recycling the ball at close quarters to deny their opponents any further scores.

Next week Avon host St Bernadettes at Hicks Field which witnessed a high scoring game between Avon 2nds and Keynsham 3rds, with the visitors winning by 66 points to 31 in an entertaining match.