In atrocious conditions, Avon enjoyed a mesmerising first quarter with 3 tries which rocked their hosts. An attacking line out gave the first opportunity as Josh Hiscott exploited the blind side to crash over for the opening score in the corner. Although Old Reds came back strongly, they were repelled by excellent defence. Then a massive line out drive saw the visitors suck in the home defence before Zak Harwood burst through midfield to send a delicious offload to fellow centre Josh Banks to score his first try for Avon under the posts.

From the restart Avon regained possession deep inside their own half and produced a sumptuous handling movement which backs coach Jake Coates was justifiably proud of with dummy runners and fine attacking lines to cut open the Reds defence. This created an attacking scrum from which Harwood rode the tackles to touch down. With Jonny Batchelor adding 2 conversions, Avon opened up a 19 points lead.

However Old Redcliffians demonstrated why they have only been beaten once all season with a stirring comeback. Having patiently sucked in the Avon defence, they opened their account with a converted try out wide. Then a purple patch ended up with another 2 converted tries inside a 5 minute blitz to take a 21 – 19 lead at half time.

With the weather deteriorating still further, handling movements were at a premium as Reds took the opportunity of a penalty to extend their lead. A spirited Avon response deep inside home territory was held up just short of the line. Then winger Iain Parris scampered through after a crafty grub kick and was only denied a try by the narrow dead ball line. With Avon seeking the bonus point score, instead Reds capitalised at the other end as a midfield switch saw their centre touch down under the posts to complete the scoring.

Next week Avon are hoping that the conditions will improved to allow their home game to go ahead against Weston Super Mare 2nds.