CLEVE’S Second team fielded old favourites Neil Evans and Nathan Huntley for their match against Bishopston 1sts.
They also fielded an exciting new player, Daniel Allaker, who has a fine pedigree coming from the northern club Keswick.
Cleve started the stronger but in the 20th minute Bishopston struck to make it 7-0.
An end-to-end game saw Cleve gain possession and move the ball wide to score on the wing.
Cleve had some ex-Colts in the team, but the experience of Evans and Huntley came through, with both scoring to put Cleve 22-14 up at half-time.
After the interval Jack Bush stormed over, knocking defenders out of the way on his way to the try line.
With 15 minutes to go Bishopston showed their first 15 quality and scored twice to go a point up.
Archie Franklin, however, got hold of the ball and went over to put Cleve back in front.
Huntley clinched the game by running 50 yards from a scrum to score, making it 41-33 at full time. After the game coach John O’Hara said the team produced a good all-round performance but he was especially pleased by their resilience to stay in the game.
Cleve also hosted Bristol Bisons for their 47-24 win over Cardiff Lions, a game that garnered significant interest from a large audience.
Stephen Bateman