The win was based on a monstrous performance from the Avon pack which demolished their opponents’ scrum in addition to a much tighter defensive display, epitomised by tenacious tackling from new young flanker Gus Disney.

Hornets took an early lead following a charge down of a relieving kick which bounced kindly for their attacker to score a converted try. Avon soon struck back as they started to string together several concerted phases which led to the position for a try from Ben Hurd after a powerful line out drive. Constant Avon pressure was then rewarded with a pushover try touched down by Will Hayward.

After several dangerous attacking forays, Avon’s exciting Fijian full back Nasoni Adrole unfortunately suffered a nasty chest injury and had to be replaced before a trip to the RUH. This seemed to disrupt Avon’s rhythm as Hornets enjoyed their best spell of the game to take the lead with another try out wide. This was short-lived though as Rob Fitch slotted a penalty on the stroke of half time for a 13 – 12 interval lead.

The second half saw Avon in merciless mood as they increased the intensity of their forward dominance to earn a flurry of scrum penalties. Eventually the pressure told as another huge surge sucked in the defence before Damien Sawyer fed Nat Harding on the blindside to crash over in the corner. Fitch converted magnificently from the touchline to open up a two-score gap.

With Avon now dominating most aspects of play amid sporadic Hornets attacks, it was only a matter of time before the bonus point try arrived. Eventually after great patience and skill in recycling the ball over a dozen phases, Harding burst through the middle for their 4th try again converted by Fitch.

There was still time for Avon to award debuts to new recruit Vlad Luchian-Wallis and reliable squad member Zac Holbrook after a patient wait for his first appearance. Unsurprisingly, Rob Fitch was awarded the Man-of-the-Match trophy for his tactical masterclass, vital place kicking and orchestrating the attack and defence, including a first-half dummy and sudden burst of acceleration through the gap and second-half wonderful 50:22 kick which rolled into touch right next to our new sponsors advertising board to give added publicity to FreeWeek.co.uk