CLEVEDON'S determination to beat the big freeze was rewarded with a 15-6 home win over Cullompton, which has helped throw the South West One West promotion race wide open.

While the great majority of clubs across the Bristol area were forced to call off games for a second successive weekend because of deep frost and snow, Clevedon officials were always confident that their Coleridge Vale pitch would thaw sufficiently in bright sunshine.

And pairing that optimism with a tremendous display of character proved to be irresistible as the home side moved second after stretching their 100 per cent home run this season to nine outings, despite being outplayed for the best part of an hour.

Clevedon missed countless first-up tackles and were comprehensively denied territory and possession. And, when they finally got their hands on the ball, the home side were nudged back on their own ball in the scrum and stuttered so badly at the line-out that eighth-placed Cullompton appeared to be heading towards a comfortable victory.

Tellingly, though, that domination took place from 22 to 22, with the Devon visitors failing to create a clear-cut try-scoring chance as they forged only a six-point lead thanks to two Adam Pearce penalties.

And that advantage was wiped out at a stroke when Clevedon finally worked a decent field position for the first time since the opening minute of this entertaining clash.

With Gary Carpenter making an immediate impact off the bench in the front row, the home side won clean ball at a scrum 15 metres out, feeding burly winger Simon Johns, who dipped his shoulder and bulldozed through several would-be tacklers for the game's opening try.

Mike Taylor converted to put his side in front by a point and two minutes later added a tremendous penalty, showing great skill to keep his balance in the mud and perfectly judge a 30-metre kick to make it 10-6.

Back came Cullompton, ignoring a 35-metre penalty opportunity to kick for the corner with skipper Jemba Bull exorting his side to go for the win. But home flanker Owen Biggins came into his own as the clock counted down, making a crucial steal on the floor, while both Taylor and full-back Mike Lowis put in spirit-lifting long clearance kicks to ease the pressure.

Clevedon skipper Tom Thie then made the game safe, perfectly anticipating a Cully counter-attack to intercept and dash away for a 40-metre unconverted try.

'Daylight robbery' muttered a smiling home supporter, and although Thie acknowledged his side had struggled to make an impact until the hour mark, the fly-half preferred to focus on the positives as he reflected on a memorable success.

He said: "We lost down there and you can't ignore the fact that they've got the best defensive record in this league – and they're eighth. That shows exactly how tight a division this is.

"Last year this is a game we could well have lost, but we've got more mental strength this season."

Leaders Brixham appear to be nailed-on favourites for automatic promotion, but the chase to finish second and secure a play-off place now appears to be a three-way dust-up between Clevedon, Camborne and Avonmouth.

Thie added: "Camborne and Avonmouth have games in hand on us, but at this stage I'd rather have the points in the bank. We've not really talked so far about promotion chances, my feeling is that we've just got to keep focusing on winning matches.

"There's a long way to go, but both Brixham and Avonmouth have got to come here so we'll see what happens."