Although Avon battled bravely up the slope in the first half, the Berry Hill forwards controlled large phases of the game and things looked ominous as the strong home pack forced a penalty try from a five metre scrum after only 10 minutes play. Avon responded well with several forays upfield led by Ollie Flight and Chris Eames but these petered out through lack of concerted support and were repelled by lengthy clearance kicks from the home fullback.

Avon’s determined defence thwarted Berry Hill’s attacks until shortly before half time when a long cut out pass exposed the blind side for a try in the corner.

After the break, Avon started to take the game to their opposition with the lineout functioning smoothly and the scrum starting to settle into their rhythm and were soon rewarded with a penalty from debutant flyhalf Rob Fitch who has just joined from Cleve. Although the Hill pack responded with another try from a driving maul, Avon then enjoyed their best spell of the game as Ollie Flight reacted quickly to a loose ball from an attacking Avon scrum to scamper over the line for a well-deserved try.

With Fitch adding the conversion and then slotting another penalty, Avon had fought their way back into the game at 17 – 13 down, going into the last quarter. This spurred Berry Hill into action with another powerful drive from their pack resulting in a converted try before they finally scored the try of the match with a flowing move from half way to put the result beyond doubt.

Next week Avon face another tough match at home to Bristol Harlequins.