Having won the home fixture comfortably against bottom of the table Castle Cary earlier in the season, Avon travelled to the game reasonably confident of an away win despite being depleted by injuries and unavailabilities. The reality was somewhat different they came up against a home side who were fighting to avoid the drop and in good form.

Avon started the game well enough and took an early lead from a Rob Fitch penalty. In the set pieces, things were relatively even with Avon having a slight edge in the scrum but could not exert their usual dominance. Although they won the majority of their own line out ball, they could not get near the Cary lineout which was faultless all day and provided a rich supply of ball all afternoon for the home side.

Within 10 mins of Avon taking the lead, they had conceded 2 unconverted tries with the lively home side looking to attack at every opportunity. Avon were having one of those off days, with the passes not sticking, and the bounce of the ball never seeming to go their way. However, they still managed to level the game after creating a large overlap to allow Matt Thresher to score in the left-hand corner.

Avon then conceded a 3rd try and, with the game deep into injury time in the first half, came the key turning point. Avon were hammering on the Cary line when a stray pass was intercepted and the home side winger raced the length of the pitch to make it 24 10 at half time.

Avon never recovered from this and in the first 30 mins of the second half conceded 4 more tries as the home side enjoyed a real purple patch with some great attacking rugby which belied their lowly league position. Avon were unfortunate not to score during this period and were close with a few driving mauls which collapsed close to the line but they could just not make the final yard.

With 10 minutes to go and the game very much lost, everything changed as suddenly the passes stuck and gaps in the defence were exploited. Backrow Rhys van Den Handel romped over from 25m to start the hunt for a try bonus point. Just after, an excellent break by Ridley saw Matt Thresher go over for his second. With Avon now creating gaps everywhere, they worked their way back down the pitch only to spill the ball over the line in the last move of the game and the bonus point went begging.

Overall Castle Cary were well worth the win and played some outstanding rugby in the driest conditions seen for a while on a very wide pitch. Avon’s stop start season goes on hold again now with the fixture planned for next week cancelled as Rebels have withdrawn from the league, followed by the Easter break so Avon’s next league game is away to St Bernadettes on April 11th.