Hill at the double as Clevedon stop the rot at Avonmouth

Hill, making his first start since returning to the club from Hornets, touched down in each half, either side of tries from man of the match, Brian Largenton and wing Oscar James.

Mike Taylor kicked two conversions and penalty, while Hill added the extras to his second try, to complete a much-needed win for Clevedon.

In this crunch relegation clash, Clevedon were gifted a second minute lead, when Hill – who started at fly half, with Will Carpenter reverting to full-back – intercepted on halfway before cruising in under the posts for a converted try.

But the hosts hit back and leveled the scores five minutes later, when full-back Andy Taylor took advantage of an over lap on the left-hand side to power over, with Loader adding the extras.

A 35 metre penalty from Mike Taylor - after powerful work at the scrum - opened up a 10-7 lead for the visitors on the 20 minute mark, before Avonmouth fly-half Loader kicked two penalties of his own to give the home side a 13-10 lead.

But it didn’t last long, as prop Brian Largenton picked through the middle of a centre-field ruck and trundled under the posts from 30 metres - Taylor’s conversion made it 17-13 at half-time.

Now playing with the slope, Clevedon were guilty of not clearing their lines in the early stages of the second half and only some resilient defending prevented Avonmouth from going back in front.

When they did eventually clear their lines, Clevedon began to find their feet and a strong lineout drive put the visitors on the front foot.

When the ball was moved wide, Taylor’s step and offload put Dean Ashfield in the clear and he unselfishly teed up Oscar James to touch down in the left-hand corner and give Clevedon some breathing space.

The conversion was missed, but Clevedon were soon back in Avonmouth territory and from a five metre scrum, Hill sliced a hole in the home defence to secure an all-important bonus-point for his side.

In the dying minutes, Blaise Bosley was sent to the sin-bin for an alleged scrum offence – and the home side took full advantage to score their second try of the afternoon.

But it had little bearing on the result and Clevedon now head into Friday night’s derby showdown at Bridgwater and Albion in confident mood.