Victory At The Vale !!

This was a good local derby with Clevedon taking the spoils after 80 hard fought minutes . On a warm February day it was the visitors who started well putting the Clevedon defence under serious pressure and were rewarded with a penalty to take an early lead. For the next 20 minutes it was all Avonmouth as the seasiders resolve was tested and any ball they did get they carelessly kicked away. However the lesson of patience they learned last week once again paid off when after a quick tap penalty from Ashley Vailles saw the ball offloaded for Ryan Hervey to score a try converted by Tom Thie 7-3 . Clevedons dominant scrum was once again in evidence as they pushed their bigger counterparts around the pitch and were rewarded with a penalty for Thie to increase the lead 10-3 . Avonmouth who always looked dangerous with ball in hand struck back with a fine try out wide to go into the break 10-8 down.

The second half saw Clevedon once again under pressure as Avonmouth looked to close the gap as they stretched the home defence from side to side. However every question they asked was answered by a stoic wall of defence . On the 60th minute with the game finally balanced came the break through when a superb turnover from Rusty O'Brien resulted in the ball being kicked into the Avonmouth half and as they turned to attack a loose pass was superbly read by Brian Largenton, who pounced and sprinted 40 meters to score under the posts converted by Thie 17-3. This seemed to take the wind out of the Avonmouth sails and Clevedon definitely took advantage as once again the forwards put the squeeze on at scrum time and after a series of scrums in the red zone the ball was spread through the hands for strong running Rusty O'Brien to score out wide . With minutes left on the clock the Clevedon pack once again put the pressure on at scrum time and with Avonmouth all at sea this allowed Dave Rawle and Ashley Vailles to combine for Gerald Hicks to score outwide to seal a bonus point win 27-8.

Head coach Nick Hill commented 'this was a tough encounter and Avonmouth were right in it till the last third that said our defence was once again superb , I don't normally single players out for praise but our front row of Brian (200) Largenton Matty Honour and Blaise (200) Bosley were totally dominant.

Next week Cheltenham home ko 2.30 vps lunch 1.30