Avon 1st
Matches
Wed 17 Apr 2019
Combe Down
5
43
Avon RFC
Avon 1st
Avon RFC - Bath Combination Vase Champions

Avon RFC - Bath Combination Vase Champions

Steve Bird20 Apr 2019 - 07:24
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Avon continued their record of never losing a Bath Combination Vase final as they won their 5th trophy with a comprehensive 43-5 victory against Combe Down.

This was an outstanding all-round squad performance from Avon against a useful Combe Down side who had previously swept all before them in cantering to the Dorset & Wilts 1 league title. However they had no answer to Avon’s awesome power as their forceful pack and hard running backs dominated possession and territory in front of a decent sized crowd on the Rec.

The scene was set inside the first three minutes as Avon moved up field, forcing Combe Down to concede 3 quick penalties in succession with illegal attempts to halt Avon’s forward drives. From the third, the referee yellow-carded the Combe Down number 8 and Avon immediately capitalised as Chaz Meddick powered over for the opening try. Then a flowing three-quarter move out wide was just thwarted as James Leeming was forced into touch, whilst Ben Hurd was held up just short of the try line.

After Combe Down almost seized upon an interception chance, Avon increased their intensity and, as another driving maul led by Chris Mutlow and Kane Book was collapsed, the referee had no hesitation in awarding them a penalty try. Combe Down tried to make best use of their scraps of possession with their speedy backs but were repelled by some excellent Avon midfield defence with Lucas Pratt, Zak Harwood and Will Hayward excelling. With Scott & Kane Book dominating the lineouts and Tom Boreham and Josh Harding-Wyatt offering forceful runs, another collapsed maul led to another Combe Down sin binning, Again Avon showed no mercy as they surged once more towards the try line only to be halted illegally, leaving the referee no option but to award another penalty try.

A rare Combe Down excursion into the Avon 22 then saw Meddick also sent to the sin bin but Avon stole the resulting line out and scrum half Alex Gapper relieved the pressure with a 40 metre individual break to halfway leaving Avon with a comfortable 19 nil lead at the interval.

With Josh Hiscott, Ian Burnell and JJ Pulvertaft reinforcing their already dominant pack from the bench and Rob Fitch now offering a different tactical approach from fly half, Avon piled on the pressure before Sam Book finished off a series of close quarter drives and soft offloads to stroll over for their 4th try, converted by Jonny Batchelor. As Combe Down struggled to get outside their own half, Avon went for the jugular and soon touched down another try as Xander Davis powered over after another spell of unrelenting inter-passing and ball retention. Then, after another imposing Avon 30 metre drive was again illegally collapsed, another yellow card ensued for the beleaguered defence and Batchelor slotted a straightforward penalty to further extend the lead.

With Avon fully emptying their bench Dan Griffin and Matt Thresher joined the action and Combe Down eventually got a small reward for their efforts as a clever grubber kick from Ollie Lakey was regathered by Jack Williams for a consolation try. As they attacked out wide again, a tremendous dump tackle from replacement winger Iain Parris rocked them backwards and the final word fell fittingly to Avon as they closed out an impressive performance with another try for hooker Sam Book to spark their celebrations which continued long into the night.

Afterwards skipper Scott Book, who announced that he was standing down from the captaincy after 3 years in charge, said “That was one of our all-time great performances and I’m so proud of the entire squad tonight and all the other players who have played so well throughout the season.”

Match details

Match date

Wed 17 Apr 2019

Kickoff

18:00
Team overview
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