Yet the first half was a low-scoring drab affair before Avon exploded into life after the interval. Perhaps a combination of the journey to Taunton and the biting swirling wind, allied to a very determined Huish performance, kept scoring opportunities to a minimum. However Avon did touch down two tries after powerful forward drives, with hooker Sam Book and prop Liam Ridley the beneficiaries for a 10 nil lead at half time.
Immediately after the break, Huish took advantage of a long kick downfield to close the gap with a smartly taken try. That seemed to galvanise Avon as they responded with an awesome array of attacking play from the backs, orchestrated by Jake Coates at fly half. With Zak Harwood and Escher Le Duc punching holes through midfield and Xander Hall-Davis sucking in the defence with powerful runs, the gaps began to appear.
Dan Cousineau scored next off the back of an attacking maul, then Matt Thresher showed great strength to force his way over in the corner for the bonus point try. He then repeated the feat by finishing off a flowing move to add his 13th try of the season. With Thresher converting both, a healthy 29-5 lead was established.
Jonny Batchelor came off the bench to deal admirably with Huish’s long kicks with the tricky wind and got onto the scoring charts after quickly recycled ball was spun wide to the outside. With their confidence growing, Avon showed a mix of powerful running, deft offloads and incisive handling from the backs and forwards alike as Huish struggled to contain the wave of attacks which resulted in another two tries.
As Avon skipper Kane Book missed a rare game, Louis Belsten made a welcome re-appearance at prop and completed a front row union hat-trick of tries as he left a trail of would-be tacklers in his wake to power over the try line. Finally Le Duc was rewarded for his man-of-the-match display with Avon’s 8th try of the afternoon.
On Saturday 3rd placed Avon travel to Weston to take on 4th placed Hornets on their 4G pitch.