Rob's two tries spark Whitehall success against Frampton Cotterell
The winger broke the deadlock in a scrappy, mistake-riddled encounter by showing good pace to dash through a gap down the right touchline midway through the opening period.
And Ford made the game safe for Whitehall by latching on to a loose clearance kick three minutes from time to set off on a weaving 30-metre run to the line for his second touchdown, while only a forward pass in the last seconds of time added on denied him a hat-trick.
Whitehall had also ended the first half on top after winger Jake Lucas finished off a well-worked try, converted by Ashley Honeywell, for a 12-point advantage.
Frampton tried desperately hard to pull the game out of the fire, and hard-working flanker Anthony Jones claimed a try after Mike Ashwin's chip-kick through on the hour sat up nicely.
Ashwin converted but two earlier penalty misses and the lack of a kicking game did not help the home side's cause.
Peter Polledri, who along with Dave Pike took over the coaching reins during the summer, said: "We're pleased with the win but there were a lot of mistakes – we could have scored another five tries but for the last pass – and there is a lot for us to work on.
"It's still early days but the improvement we're seeing is pleasing."
In the Junior Vase, Aretians were 12-0 home winners over Longlevens, while Bishopston returned home from Tetbury with a 35-23 victory.
But Ashley Down lost 29-11 at Cheltenham Civil Service and there were walkovers for Brockworth and Painswick, against Kingswood and Broad Plain, respectively.
Gordano eased into the second round of the Charles Saunders Combination Vase with a 26-17 victory away to Imperial, who borrowed Bristol Barbarians' Whitchurch ground for the day.
The visitors stormed into a 15-point lead with tries from blindside Paul Richards, openside Rupert Gray and centre Andy Rees, but Imperial pulled back to within a point as Paul Musgrove and James Russo Jones touched down. Dean Payne added both conversions.
However, Imperial, who lost a player to the sin-bin in the first period, suffered two more yellow cards after the break, and Gordano took advantage to pull clear with a try from No 8 Matt Wilshire and two drop goals from Rees, who switched to fly-half, before Payne pulled back three points with a penalty.
The biggest win of the day was recorded by Old Bristolians who romped in by 88 points against Bristol Telephones after crossing for 14 tries.
There was a hat-trick for Nick Reed and two apiece for Mike Barton and Jonny Biggins.
St Bernadette's defeated Cotham Park 42-6, while Bristol Saracens were awarded a walk-over against Winscombe.
Old Redcliffians, meanwhile, have scratched from tonight's scheduled Charles Saunders Combination Cup clash against Clevedon because of front row availability problems.
Clevedon move into the quarter-finals along with Avonmouth, who last week overcame Bristol Harlequins.
The next first-round cup clash due to take place at the Portway Rugby Development Centre is between Keynsham and St Mary's, on Tuesday, September 29 (7.30pm).
In the Somerset Vase, Blagdon, Broad Plain and Crewkerne all received walk overs into the first round. Butleigh defeated local rivals North Wootton 34-12, while Castle Cary and Martock will meet in a league-vase double header on October 17.
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