Yet in the first half, things didn’t look so rosy as the scores continued to fluctuate between the 2 teams. In fact, Hornets held a narrow lead at the interval but then remained scoreless in the second half whilst Avon chalked up 31 unanswered points to end their home league campaign in style.

An early steady stream of possession saw the visitors open the scoring with a converted try before Avon came back with a penalty. This was scored by stand-in kicker Kiddie Sheikh after fly half Rob Fitch was forced off the field with a nasty cheekbone injury. Hornets immediately struck back with their second try after a missed tackle out wide.

Again Avon responded with another penalty from Sheikh. They then followed this with a monstrous line out surge which ended up with the predatory Ben Hurd emerging from the pile of bodies for the try. Yet again, Hornets conjured a try from nothing as a bounced pass eluded the defenders to allow their right winger to scorch away for the touchdown unopposed under the posts.

This proved to be the end of their scoring as Avon tightened their defence and reduced the deficit just before half time as Xander Hall-Davis added their second try from an uncontested line out.

Making the perfect start to the second period, scrum half Sheikh sniped across the try line for Avon to take the lead. Shortly afterwards, hooker Sam Book intercepted an attack deep inside his own half and burst up field. The subsequently recycled ball was moved to Jack Moore who set off on a mazy run from half way before touching down. Jake Coates converted.

Avon’s rhythm was disrupted by 3 yellow cards but outstanding defence prevented Hornets from taking advantage. Restored to their full complement, Avon finished with a flourish with a 3 try blitz inside the last 10 minutes. Coates outpaced the despairing tacklers to score near the posts, then a powerful surge from Zak Harwood and a sumptuous offload opened up the opportunity for Oscar McCormack to crash over the line.

Coates added another 2 conversions before Hall-Davis had the final word as he powered across for his second try to complete the scoring in an impressive win.

Ed Boulton collected the man-of-the-match award for his tireless performance off the bench before the celebrations continued into the early hours in the clubhouse with a joint “150th“ party to mark the 40th birthdays of Jake Coates, Ben Hurd and Scott Book, with Dan Griffin also celebrating his 30th in an Ibiza-themed neon party.