Away Defeat For The Seasiders

Clevedons poor away form continued with a disappointing defeat at Avonmouth. On a sunny afternoon and on a firm pitch both sides tried to play running rugby however an inability to look after the ball meant that any line breaks or worth while attacks were squandered by poor handling or forced offloads. The first half was very much a stop start affair as the referees interpretation of the laws had everyone scratching their heads and when the game did flow both sides failed to put any real chances together. Finally on the stroke of halftime the deadlock was broken when Clevedons Adam Coles converted a penalty. Halftime Clevedon led 3 nil. After the break the seasiders upped the ante with sustained pressure in the Avonmouth red zone but once again unforced errors and stupid offloads foiled any chances of crossing the line .but they were rewarded with a penalty duly converted by Coles to increase the lead. Cue the self destruct button as the next 5 minutes saw Avonmouth score two converted trys courtesy of Clevedons offloading. 14-6 The seasiders heads did not drop as they battled back into the game and pressure at defence time forced an interception try for Adam Coles converted.14-13 The last third of the game saw Clevedon with the lions share of possession but poor line out execution denied them and their superiority at scrum time was not rewarded by the referee .In the final minutes Avonmouth secured victory with a penalty. Head coach Nick Hill commented once again we plucked defeat from the jaws of victory. It feels like one step forward two steps back at the moment our inability to look after the ball cost us today.