Avonvale pushed hard to secure win
Avonvale travelled to Frome 2nd expecting to win, but had to work a lot harder than they thought they would in their Counties 1 Southern South fixture.
Frome had first use of a strong wind and were first on the scoreboard with a well-struck penalty. Vale worked hard to create an opening for winger Morgan Williams to dive over in the corner to take the lead, before Frome took advantage of some awful tackling to score under the posts - adding the conversion to lead 10-5.
Vale applied loads of pressure and eventually number eight Scott Taylor crashed over, with centre Joe Russell adding the extras. With the wind at their backs, Vale put Frome under continued pressure and added a couple of quick tries through prop Hayden Rogers and scrum-half Ben Hansford Holt. Russell converting one of the tries.
Frome pressed hard but the Vale defence held and, after clearing their lines, had a lineout five metres out and flanker Charlie Fallows crashed over. Vale rounded off a good afternoon when Russell charged down a kick to dot down and secure a 34-10 victory.
Vale welcome North Dorset to the Crown Field on Saturday.
■ AVON produced their most commanding performance of the season with an emphatic 64-7 win at Westonsuper-mare 2nd. This was based on an all-round squad performance where the forwards and backs combined to deliver an enterprising mixture of power, pace and precision resulting in ten tries.
Playing with the wind in the first half, Avon got off to a great start as Zak Harwood powered through with a 30 metre burst to claim the opening touch down. Jonny Batchelor added the extras with the first of his six conversions. Shortly after, the lead was doubled after a powerful lineout drive saw the ball switched back to the blind-side where Josh Hiscott crashed over.
The next 20 minutes saw a quieter spell while Weston showed glimpses of their attacking threat out wide. With new recruits Liam Ridley and Rhys van den Handel showing strongly, the visitors soon cranked up the pressure as their midfield defence forced a handling mistake on halfway, allowing winger Iain Parris to adroitly dribble the ball down-field to add another try.
Avon exploded into life with another two converted tries before the interval. Another powerful surge from the pack set up the platform for Harwood to again suck in the defenders before scrum-half Kiddie Sheikh crossed in the corner. With the final move of the half, Tom Boreham snaffled a loose pass and set sail on a surging windassisted run, leaving a trail of would-be tacklers in his wake for their fifth try.
Expecting a more difficult task into the strong wind, Avon’s job was suddenly made easier as an overthrown Weston lineout deep inside the 22 was immediately moved wide where Matt Thresher made ground before unleashing Batchelor up the touchline. Three quick passes later saw Sheikh take an off-load from skipper Kane Book before pirouetting through the Weston pack to score under the posts.
Weston responded strongly and were rewarded for their endeavours as a length of the field attack resulted in a converted try to get them on the scoreboard. Entering the last quarter, Avon demonstrated their range of powerful forward surges combined with delicate off-loads to open up space.
This was epitomised as Dan Griffin took a soft pass from Xander Davis to storm 40 metres upfield before the ball was recycled several times, allowing Davis to saunter over under the posts where he unselfishly handed the ball to the supporting Parris for his second try.
With Avon unleashing their powerful bench of Ollie Flight, Chaz Meddick and Escher le Duc, another three tries were to come. A fantastic line and sidestep from lock forward Hiscott attracted the defence before off-loading to Flight to score with his first touch. Flight then finished off another series of attacks to touch down again.
A well-won turnover in their own 22 saw Avon swiftly transfer the ball wide for Batchelor to again storm up the touchline before the supporting Sheikh danced over for their tenth try - which he duly converted himself.
After the game, head coach Kai Harwood said: “This performance shows what this group are capable of. Our selection task will be even harder next week with another six players coming back into contention after injuries and unavailability. Training sessions are key to continuing our recent run of good performances as we prepare to face city rivals Oldfield at Hicks Field on Saturday.”
■ ELSEWHERE, Keynsham narrowly held off visiting Cheltenham for a 32-21 victory in Regional 2 Severn to continue their winning run over Cheltenham and move four points clear of them in sixth.
In Counties 1 Southern South, Walcot struck a half-century in beating hosts Royal Wootton Bassett 2nd 50-5 to remain second in the table. Combe Down suffered a 30-12 defeat at Yeovil as the home side avenged their loss suffered to Combe in January. Combe sit seventh, six points ahead of Avonvale.
Oldfield Old Boys were narrowly beaten 17-14 at home to Hornets 2nd in Counties 2 Somerset, a much better showing than the 43-0 whitewash suffered by Oldfield in February at Shaft Road. They remain a point above Hornets, fourth in the table. The Second Side were beaten 40-12 at Winscombe 2nd in Counties 3 Somerset North to remain bottom on minus four points as Winscombe continued their winning run over Oldfield.
The derby in the division saw Old Sulians win 33-21 over Stothert & Pitt at Lansdown Road, avenging the narrow defeat suffered in February 2019.
Sulians remain two points off leaders Chew Valley 2nd, while Stotherts are seventh and now one point behind Keynsham 2nd after their 68-15 victory at Clevedon 2nd. Jake Davis and Harvey Hobbs notched a brace of tries each, alongside scores for James Preston, Ashley Linton, Luke Rolfe, William
Hughes, Henry Stratton and Declan Harding, while Hobbs also added seven conversions.
Walcot 2nd made it three wins from four in Counties 4 Somerset North with a 55-27 win at Midsomer Norton 3rd to continue their winning run over Norton. Keynsham 3rd grabbed their second victory, 26-14 at home to Chew Valley 3rd to make it two consecutive wins over Chew.
Corsham stormed to their fourth victory in four Counties 2 Dorset & Wilts Central games with a 50-0 whitewash over local rivals Bradford on Avon, continuing their good form over Bradford who are yet to win this season. Corsham 2nd moved to the top of Counties 3 Dorset & Wilts Central as they matched their first team, winning 69-9 at home to Melksham 2nd for a second consecutive victory over those opponents. Bath Saracens lost 29-14 at Trowbridge 3rd for a fifth defeat in five games.
Colerne narrowly managed to beat hosts Supermarine 24-23 in Counties 3 Dorset & Wilts North for their second win in five games.