It was a perfect start for the black and ambers as an early attack set up a powerful maul for flanker Ian Burnell to burst over the try line with Jonny Batchelor slotting the conversion. Yet Imperial soon hit back in their typical style with a series of driving charges which ultimately saw Jack Smart touch down for full back Conor Sheehan to add the extras to level the scores.

Avon were on top for the next quarter, marshalled by veteran Damo Sawyer at scrum half but were repelled by excellent Imperial defence. The visitors then broke the deadlock to take the lead with a penalty after another set of successive forward drives. The clash of styles continued as Avon attempted to spread the ball through their dangerous backs but couldn’t make the vital breakthrough until man-of-the-match Zak Harwood surged through midfield before delivering a perfectly timed pass for winger Iain Parris to touch down in the corner. This gave Avon a 12-10 half time lead.

Probably the decisive moment came 10 minutes into the second half as Avon’s dangerous fly half Tom Boreham sold a dummy on the half way line, sidestepped and sprinted 50 metres to score an outstanding try under the posts. This gave Avon the cushion but it wasn’t plain sailing as Imps continued to deliver a physical and abrasive performance.

Neither side’s ambitions to build momentum were helped by a stop-start performance where a stream of penalties interrupted the pattern of play, with Avon conceding 14 penalties and their visitors giving away 16, which left continuity and multi-phases sadly lacking.

Avon adapted their tactics accordingly and, after Matt Thresher produced a try-saving tackle on their own line, worked their way upfield where a cleverly constructed lineout drive saw Xander Davis emerge from the pile of bodies for their bonus point try. Unleashing a powerful bench in Ben May, Tai Harwood and Jonny Griffiths, Avon started to exert their dominance and repeated their forward drives to set up the position for Davis to power over for his 7th try of the season.

With Batchelor adding 3 conversions, Avon established a comfortable winning lead although the visitors did score a late consolation try through Ricky Jones.

On Friday night, Avon 2nds play their Stotherts counterparts under lights at Corston where all spectators are welcome.