Tor 13 - Avon 48

Tor had made an excellent start, with their forwards fired up for the confrontation and their backs showing a mix of skill and speed to race into a 10 nil lead, firstly with a converted try after a flowing move covering half the field, followed shortly afterwards by a penalty for offside at a ruck. At this stage Avon were guilty of too many individual mistakes and were unable to link together any concerted phases of control, with their lineout failing to function smoothly and allowing Tor too much space on the ball in the loose exchanges.

Gradually Avon began to exert some pressure to build continuity and, after declining two penalty opportunities for attacking scrums, hooker Ben Hurd wriggled across the line for their opening try. A series of forward drives after storming runs from man of the match Zak Harwood then set up the position for fullback Stuart Dilloway to charge over for a try converted by Sam Rowlands just before half time. No sooner had Avon taken the lead before they infringed at the restart for Tor to kick the ensuing penalty for a narrow 13 - 12 lead at the interval.

With skipper Kai Harwood having read the riot act during the break, Avon emerged for the second half as a different team, running in another 6 tries and preventing Tor from adding to their total. The transformation started from the kick off as Avon increased the intensity with some close interplay amongst the forwards creating the space for Des Bowden to squeeze in for a try at the corner. Good pressure from an attacking scrum saw Sam Rowlands charge down an attempted clearance and gather the rebound to score and convert his own try.

With the floodgates opening, Avon added further tries at regular intervals to bemuse the despairing Tor defence. Stu Dilloway added his second after a quickly taken short penalty was spun wide, then tireless flanker Scott Book stole possession from a Tor lineout to sneak over for his first try of the season. Hard grafting throughout from Craig Rees was then rewarded as the ball was transferred along the backs to Damo Sawyer who spun out of a tackle, sold a dummy and danced through for another converted try.

The best try was however reserved until the last. Tor responded to adversity with a positive attack deep into Avon territory but, from a turnover near their own line, Sam Rowlands spotted a gap down the blindside and set off on a mazy 70 metre sprint before chipping the ball ahead where it was adroitly snatched out of the air by the Des Bowden in support for a length of the field try to complete the scoring in a breathless second half.

Avon 2nds had a fine win against Chew Valley 2nds in a high scoring game by 47 - 23. However, Avon 1sts are expecting a much sterner test next week against their Chew counterparts, who also remain unbeaten and currently occupy third place in the league.