With the sun shining and a large contingent of travelling fans making the short journey across Bath it felt very much like a home game and Culverhaysians immediately opened up the scoring within 2 minutes of the whistle with a well taken try in the corner to lead 5 nil.

Avon however is made of sterner stuff and pinned Culverhay back for long periods of the first half. An inefficient lineout for the old boys resulted in a number of turnovers and allowed Avon to build some phases of play regularly throughout the first half.

It was evident that the game would perhaps go to the wire, with Culverhaysians appearing to be the more creative and enterprising with Barney and Rory in particular making great progress with the ball in hand and gaining territory when they became under pressure from Avon. Although it was Avon who finished the half leading 7-5 following a converted try on the stroke of half time.

The 2nd half started in similar fashion to the first with Culverhay struggling to find any breakthrough and it was former Culverhay player Adam Stone who gave Avon a 9 point advantage to lead 14-5.

Despite this setback, once again Culverhay produced some excellent rugby with the backs and forwards combining effectively to finally open up the game. With the old boys gaining confidence to finally breakdown a stubborn Avon defence, inside centre Rory raced clear to bring the difference to 2 points with just 10 minutes remaining of normal time, and following some fine work by the Culverhay forwards it presented influential fly half Barney to beat two tiring Avon defenders and score under the post to record a remarkable comeback for the Old Boys. Just minutes later the referee blew the final whistle on the game and Culverhay’s season who deservedly won 19-14.

Culverhaysians have had many up’s and downs this season, both on and off the field, however this game really showcased what local rugby is about and why as local clubs we should continue to promote and play rugby within the Bath area. Town clubs will always thrive and prosper, so small local clubs like ours will always be in their shadows and perhaps will not be as strong as our town club neighbours, but with many clubs in Bath established for over 50 years we know how to punch above our weight and continue to keep the game alive in our areas.

The quality of rugby and commitment from both teams belied their league status and position and was a game which went right down to the wire and a fitting end to a topsy turvey season for Culverhay. We will return next year in better spirits and certainly have the capabilities to improve on this season.