Whilst Avon collected the 5 match points which Bridgwater forfeited, this has left them short of action so far this season.

Meanwhile the spirit of rugby was shown in the new Bath Combination Merit Table as Avon 2nds took on Walcot 3rds at Lansdown. With both teams short of the full complement of players, they agreed to play the match and balance the two sides out. Then half a dozen of the Avon 1st team were shared out to bring the sides up to full strength.

An entertaining game followed which was sympathetically refereed by young Xander Davis, following in his father Wayne’s footsteps. For the record, Avon won by 36 points to 29 but the real winner was the sport of rugby as Walcot stalwart Chalky Wardle commented “30 players have enjoyed a run out, with a mixture of some youngsters and some older guys combining to allow a game to be played”

Walcot had the upper hand in the first half and built up a healthy lead with 3 tries but Avon responded in style after the interval. In front of a surprisingly large crowd, some flowing rugby from both teams saw a series of well-worked tries. Prompted by skipper Louis Hartcliffe and with prop forward Chaz Meddick producing a cameo performance at scrum half, Avon started to stretch the home defence.

With debutants “big” Josh up front and Kevin Kealey out wide, Avon soon worked their way back into the match to draw level, then took a convincing lead before Walcot scored a consolation try at the end to finish off an enjoyable game.