North Bristol 2nd XV 12 Avonmouth 2nd XV 31
BOTH sides included a liberal sprinkling of youngsters in their line-up, all of whom enjoyed some very good conditions to get up and running with attacking rugby.
Avonmouth’s powerful midfield made a serious impact, while North Bristol’s back row of Joey O’Brien, Geoffrey Subde and especially Matt Bowden made their presence felt, closer to the pack.
North Bristol were delighted to take an early lead, as Chris Gransden finished off some good handling and support work, crashing over on the right, followed by Tom Cogram’s excellent conversion.
Avonmouth responded with excellent driving play from a 15 metres scrum, to score an equalising, converted try at 7-7, though there were question marks over North Bristol’s tackling.
A North Bristol kick-ahead allowed lively winger Steve Hudd to gather and sprint in for an unconverted try, regaining the lead at 12-7. ‘Mouth had a sprinter of their own who streaked in after a deep breakout from the visitors.
The resulting conversion switched the lead to Avonmouth for the first time at 12-14.
Matt Bowden’s gritty grafting and close breaks set up several North Bristol chances, which brought no points, but Avonmouth managed one more converted try just before the break to lead 12-19.
Two of North’s most influential players suffered injury and the loss of Bowden was crucial, while Gransden was forced to operate at half pace also due to injury.
As North Bristol lost their edge and began to look disorganised, ‘Mouth looked the more likely to go further ahead. North’s main area of strength in the second half came from centre Andy McManus’s strong direct running, but no points were accrued.
The visitors however, only scored twice more, once from an easy pushover try and finally from a scorching 80-metre breakout.
The game subsided into a slightly scrappy affair later on, though it was well controlled by the young referee, who quickly snuffed out the brief threat of handbags, in what was otherwise a good-natured game.
North Bristol never lacked for effort or commitment but the game was deservedly won, 31-12 by Avonmouth.
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