Their problems came in the first quarter as a fired-up Hornets team made an impressive start as Avon struggled with the tempo of the game on the fast 3G pitch at the Nest. Brilliantly marshalled by their impressive young scrum half, Hornets swarmed around the field to good effect. Allied to some ineffectual Avon tackling and conceding some soft penalties, this allowed Weston to open up an early 10 nil lead with two unconverted tries.

As the game progressed, Avon slowly started to grow in dominance up front, led by an inspiring performance from prop Oscar McCormack in the unfamiliar role as flanker. As their powerful scrum began to exert the pressure, Avon levelled the scores with two unconverted tries from driving mauls, with the beneficiaries being Chris Mutlow and Ben Hurd.

It remained 10 apiece until the interval but early in the second half, Hornets achieved the decisive score as they added their third try and importantly landed the conversion in the swirling wind.

With Jake Coates and veteran Damien Sawyer showing up strongly in the backs, Avon worked hard to close the gap and were rewarded when Hurd touched down his second try. Unfortunately the conversion drifted wide, leaving Avon two points adrift. Despite a last minute surge towards the tryline, the maul collapsed leaving Avon just short of the line and having to settle for a losing bonus point.

On Saturday, 3rd placed Avon travel to Taunton to take on the Rebels who currently occupy 5th position and are enjoying impressive form after recording a convincing 80-10 win against visitors Oldfield.