Coming into the game, N&B had gone 18 matches undefeated but had only narrowly won the corresponding home fixture between the two teams and so Avon felt they had a point to prove. They certainly did that in style with an outstanding squad performance to clinch a well-deserved victory.

From the outset, it was clear that Avon were fired up for this match with Tom Boreham and Escher Le Duc storming through midfield to suck in the defence before Josh Hiscott made a perfectly timed run to surge across the try line. Jonny Batchelor slotted the conversion. Yet from the restart, Avon’s nemesis struck again as they failed to deal with the kick off, allowing N&B to swiftly move the ball wide to the right wing for Nick Badcock to touch down in the corner.

The visitors started to employ their powerful forwards to charge the gain line but were met by fierce resistance led by Ian Burnell and Will Hayward on the flanks. When Avon worked their way up field against the wind, they were unable to sustain the pressure as aggressive counter-rucking forced turnovers from which Nailsea/Backwell launched massive relieving kicks to pin Avon back deep inside their own half. This paid off as good recycling stretched the defence, allowing winger Joe Collins to score out wide.

Having taken the lead, the visitors grew in confidence as Avon struggled to break out of their own half and it was no surprise when a series of pick and drives from their big runners eventually saw prop Jack McCormick force his way over the try line. Jamie Elwood added the extras for a 17-7 half time lead but this proved to be Nailsea’s final points of the match as they went scoreless after the break.

Following the turnaround, early Avon pressure resulted in a successful penalty from Batchelor to close the gap but they were again forced on the defensive as Nailsea handled well but were repelled by the black and ambers passion and commitment to protect their try line. As the half progressed, Avon started to exploit the conditions better and gradually started to dominate the set pieces led by an inspired performance from skipper Kane Book who deservedly collected the man-of-the-match award.

With their powerful bench entering the fray, Avon started to increase the pressure and Nailsea/Backwell’s discipline started to erode as they became more petulant in an uncomfortable situation, conceding two yellow cards for back-chat to the referee and knocking-on challenging kicks in the swirling wind. Avon took advantage as N&B conceded a series of penalties to drive play deep into the visitors 22 and, from another powerful scrum surge, scrum half Ollie Flight scored a sniper’s try to close the gap to two points.

Batchelor’s conversion attempt to level the scores bounced back off the post and shortly afterwards he narrowly missed a long range penalty as Avon’s dominance grew. Finally with the referee signalling another penalty advantage in the left corner, fly half Rob Fitch launched a mammoth cross field kick to the right wing for replacement Matt Thresher to score the winning try in the corner to spark Avon’s celebrations.

Afterwards head coach Kai Harwood said “I’m proud of the efforts that the whole squad put in today. Our win was based on awesome defence and an unrelenting desire to clinch victory.” On Saturday, Avon make the short trip across town to play Oldfield at Shaft Road.