Stotherts 9 – Avon 15

Stotherts opened the scoring with an early penalty from Lewis Whyte as Avon initially stood off the tackles and allowed their hosts too much freedom in the loose play. Avon immediately hit back with a driving maul from clean lineout possession by Ben Dilloway which sucked in the Stotherts defence to create space for flanker Ian Burnell to touch down near the posts for a popular try converted by Sam Rowlands.

Playing up the slope, Avon’s rhythm seemed upset by the blustery wind as they struggled to string together enough continuity of phases to exploit the ball that their dominant pack provided and the remaining first half scoring was restricted to a penalty apiece for Whyte and Rowlands. With a 10 - 6 interval lead and the wind and slope in their favour, Avon seemed poised to put the result out of sight but were guilty of trying too hard to force the pace, rather than taking the credits from their exemplary approach work.

With skipper Kai Harwood putting in a man of the match performance with an inspired display, Avon dominated much of the second half but were repelled by dogged Stotherts resistance and were threatened on the counter attack every time that dangerous centre Carl Taylor and elusive fullback Dan Smith got their hands on the ball. This paid dividends for Stotherts as they narrowed the gap to a single point with another Whyte penalty before Avon suddenly exploded into life with an outstanding try.

Working a well-rehearsed back row move off a blind side scrum, Scott Book unleashed Sam Rowlands who scorched through the first line of defence before outpacing the cover to score the decisive try in the corner. Avon started to increase the pressure with Jake Dixon leading some powerful surges but were too ambitious in their game management in seeking further tries to close the game out. After soaking up intense pressure, Stotherts almost produced a shock as they launched a final desperate counter attack only to be bundled into touch five metres out.

Avon ran the clock down until referee John Beazer, who controlled the game excellently, blew the final whistle after 12 minutes of injury time and clinched a welcome derby win. Avon, who are at home to Gordano next week, could yet rue the missed bonus point as second placed Wells again registered a big score to maintain the pressure at the top of the league with their games in hand.