Injury to referee forces second half abandonment with Clevedon trailing

Clevedon trailed 18-15 when match official Will Thomas pulled up with a hamstring injury, having just awarded Newent their third try of the afternoon.

But he was unable to continue, forcing the fixture to be abandoned just one minute short of the 60 required to enable the result to stand.

The fixture will now be replayed and could take place at the end of April.

Clevedon were slow out of the blocks and found themselves 8-0 down inside ten minutes, as Newent took advantage of some lacklustre defending to score a try and a penalty.

But the hosts soon awoke and full-back Mike Taylor reduced the deficit with two penalties in quick succession, after some hostile work from Owen Biggins at the breakdown and numerous turnovers from Harvey Russell at the lineout.

Newent hit back with a second try courtesy of wing Jake Harkness, to extend their lead to 13-6.

Clevedon, though, refused to lie down and levelled the scores five minutes before half-time with a try from Harley Foley.

Foley was on hand to touch down in the corner, after sharp footwork from Taylor and deft handling from Harvey Russell had laid it on the plate for the second row – Taylor added the conversion from the right-hand touchline.

The sides headed into the interval all square at 13-13 and the second period began with the home side on the front foot.

From another huge Clevedon scrum, centre Dean Ashfield appeared to have scythed his way through the visitors’ defence, before being called back for an accidental offside in the build-up - and minutes later, a well-executed backs move saw Will Carpenter and Oscar James combined to set Aaron Rice away through the middle.

Rice was dragged down 20 metres short and Clevedon were then awarded a penalty under the posts.

But an alleged stamp at the breakdown saw the referee reverse his decision and Clevedon found themselves back inside their own half.

From here, the momentum began to change and Newent took charge.

A period of prolonged pressure in the Clevedon 22 saw Owen Biggins sent to the sin-bin and from the resulting penalty, the visitors kicked to the corner.

A resilient defensive effort withstood the Newent maul and forced a turnover, from which Taylor cleared long downfield to relieve the pressure.

But a melee ensued and once peace had been restored, the referee sent both Josh Mortimore and the Newent number eight to the sin-bin.

This enthralling contest was now 13 against 14 and Newent retook the lead on 58 minutes, with their impressive scrum-half, James Dean finding a gap on the blindside, before shaking off the covering defence to score in the corner.

Referee Thomas was on hand to award the try, but received treatment soon after, before attempting to restart play.

But as Taylor kicked off for Clevedon, Thomas pulled up again and without another qualified referee in attendance, the match was brought to a close with play very much in the balance.

Clevedon travel to Wells on Saturday.