This was their 6th vase final on the Rec and their 6th victory, which was celebrated in style on the night and will be again at their Annual Dinner and Awards evening.

The first quarter of the match was fairly nondescript as the two teams largely cancelled each other out and forced handling errors, perhaps due to nerves but also due to committed tackling from both sides. Corsham then took the lead with a penalty from fly half Harry Beazer and extended this shortly after as they capitalised on an error to score an unconverted try from flanker Toby Ball.

At this stage, Avon were guilty of trying to play from too deep and were slightly disjointed in attack and lacking any real momentum. Corsham gleefully slotted another penalty to open up an 11 nil lead with half an hour played. Then Avon suddenly sprung into life as they switched the ball back to the blindside from an attacking scrum to find Jake Coates looping around. A burst of acceleration, a clever dummy and a powerful burst through the despairing tackles saw him crash over the line for Avon’s opening score. Rob Fitch, who was in fine form off the tee and with his tactical kicking, added the conversion.

With half time approaching, Corsham triggered one last attack with Beazer sat in the pocket awaiting the drop goal attempt. His kick was long and true but cruelly (or kindly) rebounded off the crossbar into the arms of number 8 Angus Bollen who touched down under the posts. The successful conversion gave Corsham an 18-7 lead at the break.

Recognising that things needed to change to alter the pattern of the game, head coach Kai Harwood made some positional changes and brought on some influential replacements in Chaz Meddick, Ian Burnell and Zak Harwood. This immediately paid dividends as Avon ramped up through the gears with a sequence of driving line outs and powerful scrums, forcing Corsham to concede two yellow cards in attempting to illegally counter the onslaught. It was no surprise when the ruthless pressure eventually told as the referee awarded a penalty try after another collapsed surge towards the line.

Although being short, Corsham to their credit struck back and were rewarded with another successful penalty from Beazer. This proved to be a temporary respite as Avon’s forwards became increasingly dominant in the scrums and line outs. They then levelled the scores as Dan Griffin touched down off the back of another powerful scrum, with Fitch again adding the extras. A midfield burst from Will Bartholomew then created the position for another Fitch penalty to put Avon in the lead for the first time.

Avon were becoming increasingly confident and soon added their 4th try. Another series of attacks in the corner threatened before Ben May crashed over the try line with Fitch again converting. The resultant 10 point gap seemed just reward for Avon’s second half turnaround but, as the match reached its conclusion, Corsham again showed their battling spirit with an unconverted try from Beazer to narrow the lead in added time. This proved too little and too late as Avon wound down the clock to secure the win which kept up their unbeaten record in vase finals.

As Avon collected their winners medals and the cup afterwards from Bath Combination President Ben Hartley, the Combination Coach Mike Bamsey presented the man-of-the-match award to Avon skipper Kane Book.

Afterwards Kai Harwood said “Although Kane deserved it, I never give him the award as that is the level that I expect him to perform at! On behalf of the whole coaching team, I want to congratulate all the players in the whole squad on their wonderful season, including those whose injuries prevented them from playing tonight. I also want to thank all the friends, family and supporters who cheered us on throughout the season and especially tonight, you do not understand what a boost you all were when we needed to dig deep.”