It was a good match for the season finale with a great deal of flowing end to end rugby from both teams until the heavy rain towards the end made handling the greasy ball more difficult.

Avon failed to take advantage of some early territorial dominance but were made to pay as Keynsham broke away to score a converted try at the other end of the pitch. Two excellent tackles from Arnie Jarvis prevented further scores, whilst he also threatened in attack with his pace and mazy running, deservedly collecting the man-of-the-match award.

With the Avon pack dominating the set scrums and also setting up several intensive driving mauls, they were eventually rewarded as a massive scrum surge allowed Dave Attwood to control the ball at number 8 before touching down the pushover try. Matt Thresher converted to level the scores.

Keynsham should have taken the lead just before half time after they worked the ball wide but their winger dropped the ball in the act of touching down to allow Avon to escape. However, they made no mistake immediately after the interval with their second try to take the lead.

As the play continued to fluctuate from end to end, Avon threatened through Zak Harwood and Stu Dilloway in midfield, whilst their solid scrum continued to crank up the pressure. As the ball squirted out from a defensive home scrum, Ben Hurd harried the opposition and seized the loose ball before charging over the line for his 13th try of the season to top Avon’s try scoring charts. Thresher again added the extras to give Avon a narrow lead.

Avon spurned two wide opportunities and, although their pack earned several more penalties at the set pieces, they didn’t take advantage of the subsequent attacking lineouts to add more points to the scoreboard. Eventually Keynsham settled the match with another well-supported counter attack to add the decisive converted try under the posts.

After the match, two additional popular awards were handed out to some unsung heroes who have helped out throughout the season – veteran Damien Sawyer in the backs and stalwart prop Chris Mutlow who clocked up his 495th first team appearance.

On Saturday over 240 people will be attending Avon’s centenary dinner dance at the Apex Hotel to bring an end to their 100 year celebrations.