Their visitors impressed during the first quarter as they enjoyed both territorial and possession advantage, using their powerful forward runners through midfield to test the Avon defence. It was no surprise when these tactics paid off with a well-constructed try under the posts to take a 7 point lead.

Avon grew into the game though and soon established an edge in the scrums despite missing two of their normal props as 2nd team captain Louis Belsten anchored the pack whilst Sam Book proved a terrier in the loose exchanges and brother Scott Book dominated the lineouts. This solid platform started to pose questions and before long the backs began to show their paces as James Leeming burst through from his own half and eventually found Chris Flavell in support to touch down the try.

Then, after a series of scrum penalties inside the visitors 22, Avon took a deserved lead as Ian Burnell (the youngster in a back row with 100 years experience between them) capped a fine performance to crash over the try line with Flavell converting from out wide. Nailsea again showed their credentials deep into first half injury time to patiently launch wave after wave of forward drives through route one rugby before eventually scoring the try to level the scores at 12 points apiece at half time.

Avon made a disastrous start to the second half as a knock on after the restart was seized upon by Nailsea who took advantage of some weak tackling to add another converted try under the posts. This soft try proved to be their last score of the game though as a resilient Avon defence stifled any further attacks with Ben May and Ben Hurd grafting hard upfront and scrum half Kiddie Sheikh enjoying his best game in an Avon jersey. This commitment allowed Avon to immediately strike back as an inspiring 40 metre break by Escher Le Duq, followed by some powerful forward drives sucked in the defence and opened up the opportunity for man-of-the-match Ollie Flight to surge over for his 8th try of the season.

With just a 2 point deficit now, Avon upped the intensity and had a try disallowed before Scott Book took a great line against the flow of the defence and two quick passes later saw replacement winger Matt Thresher scorch up the touchline to score the winning try as a great reward for the team efforts. To their credit, Nailsea fought back in the closing minutes with a couple of lineout drives inside the Avon 22 seeking to level the scores but fittingly talisman Scott Book stole a decisive lineout for Sheikh to put the ball out of play for a well-deserved win.

Next week Avon travel to Weston Super Mare 2nds.

Footnote: Iain Parris seemed to have found his true vocation with an impeccable performance as touch judge