Avon started with two early unconverted tries from Jake Coates. For the first, a Jonny Griffiths break through midfield saw the ball stretched to either side of the pitch before Coates touched down in the corner. Then, after a counter attack from Jack Moore and Iain Parris, a half break from Rob Fitch opened up the defence and Coates dummied across the try line.

Chew always remained in contention and it was no surprise when they scored a converted try after a period of sustained pressure to close the gap to 3 points.

With Liam Ridley and Ben May showing strongly up front, Avon soon took play downfield again but were undone by a slightly disjointed display amidst a series of handling errors. Fitch was controlling affairs tactically and Will Bartholomew stood out with his incisive tackling and mesmerising running. This was eventually rewarded as Avon put together a patient build up and quickly recycled the ball for Bartholomew to score near the corner flag.

A 15-7 lead at half time showed that Chew were continuing to pose problems but Avon gradually started to cut down the error count to impose themselves on the scoreboard. A trademark line out drive resulted in Dan Cousineau powering over the try line. Then another scything midfield break from man-of-the-match Griffiths opened up the defence for Kiddie Sheikh to streak up the touch line for his 10th try of the season.

Fitch slotted both conversions to open up a healthy lead but Chew again responded well and a delicate chip to the corner allowed their right wing to add another converted try. Avon should then have scored at the other end as hooker Sam Book found himself in open field and the try line beckoning, only for the ball to become dislodged in the act of touching down.

With their double act of “Muts and Rutts” (Dan Mutlow and Dave Rutter) entering the action off the bench to close out the game, the last word went to Bartholomew as he carved through midfield for Avon’s final converted try.

On Saturday Avon travel to take on Weston Hornets on their artificial 3G pitch at the Nest.