Yatton Colts put in an encouraging display in their first fixture since mid-December but came up against a strong, well organised North Bristol who came away with 34-12 win last Sunday.

Both sides provided a terrific spectacle of attacking, aggressive rugby for a very appreciative crowd.

Playing down the slope North Bristol applied good pressure from the start at the breakdowns which Yatton struggled to cope with.

Some strong Yatton running was all too often made by lone players and the speed at the ruck by the North Bristol players earned them a number of penalties and this coupled with some slow reactions to the ball on the floor gifted North Bristol with the majority of the early possession.

To be fair, Yatton’s defence was pretty good from the start but the amount of ground North Bristol made from the penalties coupled with the quantity of ball won in the loose meant scores were inevitable.

Three tries came in the period and at the end of the first quarter it was Yatton 0 North Bristol 19

Into the next period and Yatton started to put a few phases together.

There was some great driving maul work as the forwards drove the ball up the park but Yatton often failed to make the most of the momentum by keeping it up front instead of letting the ball do the work and releasing their back line.

Time and again there were opportunities for Yatton to make the most of the strength and speed out wide but instead they kept it tight and North Bristol’s big pack kept them shut out.

That said it was from a good catch and drive off an attacking lineout that the ball was recycled quickly and a couple of powerful pick and drives later hooker Cam Fogg drove over the line to claw a score back.

By now, Yatton definitely had the best of the territory and possession until a loose ball was fly-hacked down field, and when Yatton couldn’t secure it, it was kicked on twice more eventually popping up as a gift for North Bristol to crash over and score.

At half-time it was Yatton 5 North Bristol 26.

Much was said at the break about use of the players out wide and to be fair Yatton had a go.

There was some lovely movement of the ball with Caleb Clarke in particular enjoying some fantastic breaks down the wing.

These were well supported and often it was a last-ditch tackle or handling error that stopped a number of scores but with their self-belief growing Yatton then looked to have scored the try of the game.

Some tremendous off-loading out of the tackle to players such as Hayden Vowles running onto the ball and making tremendous ground, drove the play down field and it looked certain that George Bell had finished it off by crashing over the line.

Unfortunately, the ball was deemed to have been stopped just short and no try was awarded.

The momentum was with Yatton though and moments later when Ben Clarke stepped through a gap and was tackled pretty much on the line it was the forwards who finished it off with Cam Fogg adding a second to make it 26-12.

Into the final quarter and it was all to play for and both teams played some super rugby that was both aggressive and direct but try as they might Yatton couldn’t quite make it work with a loose ball here and a spilled ball there handing the advantage back to their guests.

This was coupled with another couple of penalties at the breakdown and then a yellow card for a transgression at the ruck which was right in front of the posts and North Bristol duly slotted the kick.

Into the final minutes and a North Bristol scrum was neatly popped down the blindside to their winger and with a gap in the defence he made the most of the space and scored the final try.

As always Yatton immediately came back but there just wasn’t the time left as North Bristol celebrated their win.