Results have always been hard to come by at Barracks Lane, and despite Plain having the advantage in our last few contests, a squad much depleted by injuries, and half-term absences, was always going to be up against it in our first visit to Avonmouth this season.

A bare 15 Plainers made it on a dry, but cold and windswept morning, augmented by Callum’s mate Dave, guesting as hooker for the visitors.

Plain were under pressure from the start, until Derek intercepted a pass inside his own half and stormed off to open the scoring. Unfortunately this was not a sign of things to come, Avonmouth equalising direct from the restart, and adding the conversion to take a 2 point lead. Plain’s normally reliable scrum was going continually backwards, and from a lost set piece just outside the 22, the home side’s slick backs ran the ball into the right corner, again converted.

Avonmouth piled on the pressure, but the Bemmy Boys defended strongly, managing to deny the hosts on 2 occasions with the ball over the line but held up, however they couldn’t get clear of their own red zone, and it was only a matter of time before the black and reds touched down number 3.

Plain fell back on their kicking game, and for the last 5 minutes of the 30 minute period, were pushing forward, just failing to cross before the half time whistle sounded.

This had been a tough half for the visitors – with the incisive home back line playing havoc in wide areas, and the scrum failing to function well, they were always on the back foot, and could have been facing a scoreline greater than 21-5

The pain increased immediately in half 2, Avonmouth’s rampaging centre Lewis dotting down from a scrum on Plain’s 22, but this was the cue for the visitors to fight back. The Bemmy pack had sorted themselves out, and a won scrum loosed Derek to go forward, feeding Tristan and then out wide to Nathan on the left, who would have been clear to the line if the ball had stuck. Plain continued to up their game, and after 10 minutes Tristan battered through the home ranks on the right to cut in under the posts. Avonmouth made the mistake of launching the ball to Tristan at the restart, allowing him to power the length of the field and touch down his second in a matter of minutes. Two successful conversions from Owen brought the scoreline up to a more respectable 28-19, but then it was the Dockers’ turn to step on the gas, banging in one try from a penalty wide on the left, before a sweetly-executed scissors move through the middle completely bamboozled the visitors for try number 6.

With 5 minutes remaining, Derek managed to crash over from a penalty, but the home lads replied with 2 more scores to make it 59-24 at the whistle.

Another feisty performance from Hamza, operating as a flanker this week, secured him the Man of the Match award.

Next week another tough one, home to Bath