Southmead undone by Barton Hill's five-try salvo

WESTERN COUNTIES NORTH: Barton Hill rattled up 31 points in the final 14 minutes to finally subdue Combination rivals Southmead in a physically demanding Western Counties North clash.

Southmead, decimated by injuries and already appearing certain to be relegated, stubbornly refused to buckle despite being under the cosh for long periods.

But relentless pressure eventually took its toll as Barts ran in five late tries for a 41-3 scoreline that did not accurately reflect the efforts of the visitors.

Rob Haddow nudged Southmead in front with a penalty before flanker Steve Ireland belatedly celebrated his 40th birthday with two unconverted close-range tries to give the home side a 10-3 lead at the turnaround.

Barts, playing up the slope, continued to dominate possession and territory but Southmead, with teenager back rower Rhys Davies outstanding, tackled fiercely to hold firm before a personnel switch by the home side opened up the game.

Young fly-half Jack Steer came off with full-back Adam May taking the No 10 shirt, and Barts instantly ran straighter to make the game safe with two converted tries in two minutes.

Hard-working flanker Luke Bickford's strong break released scrum-half and skipper Sam Steer for a try, while winger Joe Samson then dashed away down the touchline for a five-pointer, May adding both conversions.

Samson then claimed a second before Steer completed a quick-fire hat-trick as their side consolidated fourth place in the table. Coach Mark Hughes said: "We're unlikely to reach the play-offs but we still want to finish as high up the table as we can and build for next season.

"It's a young side and we'll now try to blood some more young lads from the seconds in our last few games."

Southmead counterpart Trevor Sealey was proud of the way his make-shift side battled. "We held them for an hour and gave it 100 per cent, you can't ask any more than that," he said.

"We're up to 19 injured players at the moment and it's hard to cope with. You could count the number of serious injuries we had in the last two seasons on one hand, so our luck has run out. But we've got some very promising young lads here and they're only going to learn from games like this."

Promotion play-off hopefuls Thornbury lost their unbeaten home record with a 32-28 reverse against Keynsham, Stuart Adams, Dave Mathews and Craig Beyer scoring tries and Tim Stephens booting a conversion and two penalties.

Leaders Old Redcliffians, meanwhile, marched on with a 76-0 triumph at Berry Hill, No 8 Jed Hooper claiming four tries and lively winger Joe Woodward bagging a hat-trick. Centre Dave Harris, winger Paul Todd, full-back Craig Owen and hooker Liam McCreight also touched down with Ross Martin booting nine conversions and a penalty.

North Bristol completed the double over Drybrook with a fine 18-5 win in the Forest. Flanker Chris Jelf's try helped the visitors take a 5-3 lead at the break, while lock John Wood's kick ahead led to a try for winger Mike Lewis.

Wood, soon after, left the field with a hamstring injury but, within 20 seconds, replacement Mark Smith claimed North's third try from a strong drive.