Newton Abbot All Whites needed this win to stand any chance of making the promotional play-offs place at the end of the season. There is still no room for error, but this game was pleasing for a number of reasons.

Only two weeks ago the Devon side had high hopes of rolling over league leaders Taunton at Rackerhayes. Alas that was not to be. Then last week, on the road at Yatton, the All Whites ground out an important win, showing that they could win ugly if needed.

Avonmouth were sitting pretty above the All Whites before kick off. This win means that the All Whites now swap places and move into the play-off position for the first time this season, albeit on points difference.

Coach Phil Burford had some difficult decisions to make selection-wise for this game, given the underfoot conditions. He decided to start with the fit-again Ben Rowntree at openside with Alex Huntley, who has been dynamic this term, dropping to the bench on rotation.

The All Whites ran in four tries in the first half, leaving Avonmouth reeling from the onslaught.

The first score, after three minutes, went to winger Alex Moore who got over in the corner, converted well by Joe Burford.

The second effort came from Nick Holt. With the Avonmouth defence stretched, Holt dived over in the other corner. The influential centre who, having missed the win at Yatton due to work commitments, was obviously keen to get back into action. The conversion was missed to leave the score at 12-0.

The All White threequarters continued their assault, with full back Viskoper carving open the defence before offloading out of the tackle to flanker Jason Keenan who scored a third try before Burford then took the score to 20-0 with a penalty. Avonmouth's only answer during the first half was a penalty by fly half Matt Lawrence.

Captain Simon Mabin marked his return with a typical try just before the break, charging through a phalanx of players to score – the All Whites are always a different side when he is around. Burford managed this conversion to make the score at half time 27-3.

Avonmouth rallied and made more of a game of it in the second half, scoring two tries through Dickinson and Reynolds. However, they had too much to do and the All Whites played out for a vital win.

With the impending departure of Joe Burford to New Zealand, it was heartening to hear that the eldest of the Burford clan, Russ, made his comeback to rugby with the second team. He came through unscathed after a year out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury which required reconstructive surgery.

On his heels will come number two son Jack who, ironically, is recovering from the same injury, This is good news for coach Burford, who will need more options in the back division as the season draws to a close.

Tomorrow the All Whites are on the road at Clevedon, who have strengthened considerably since the beginning of the season.