RAMS extended their lead at the top of National Two South to 10 points on Saturday, but they were made to battle hard by a gutsy Clifton side before securing a 26-19 success at Old Bath Road.

The hosts started brightly, scoring three tries in the opening 15 minutes as it looked like the men from Bristol were in for a bleak afternoon.

However, Clifton rallied and at one point evened up the scores, only for Rams to secure the winning try and hold out for the victory.

Despite the win, Rams head coach Seb Reynolds said the game must act as a warning to his side as they bid to claim the title.

He commented: “It was an example of what happens if you drop your level at any point in this league, because National Two South is an attritional competition with quality players.

“Clifton showed us how good they are and why they’ve had two wins in a row, and they almost made it three.

“We were really dominant early on and got three tries and I think one more probably would’ve opened up the door for more points, but that didn’t happen and we let a very dangerous side back into the game.”

He continued: “You just can’t do that at this level. However, in fairness to the lads, we showed good grit and determination against a team who became very confident towards the end of the game.”

The Rams had a blistering start to the game, scoring three tries in quick succession, starting with yet another for prolific hooker Ben Henderson.

The second a minute later was the pick of the bunch, coming from Louis Wolf as he stormed down the wing to score in the corner following some good work from Alex Seers and Miles Lloyd to put the Rams on the front foot.

They were 19-0 up after just 14 minutes when Jack Steadman grabbed the third score, Seers again adding the extras.

With Clifton looking as if they might be blown away, they demonstrated their never-say-die attitude, dominating the rest of the half, and having two tries to show for their effort through Chris Rovery and Mitch Spencer.

Rams were grateful for the half-time whistle as the visitors came on strong, but Clifton came out in the second half and picked up where they had left off.

The men from Bristol stormed forward with pace and precision, overwhelming the Rams defence and scoring through Spencer to bring the scores level.

This caused Rams to shake themselves into gear, seemingly having been asleep for the previous half an hour.

They won a penalty following some terrific work in the scrum from James Baker, only for the move from the resulting line-out to break down moments later.

However, the the hosts did not have to wait long for another chance as they advanced, applying relentless pressure on Clifton and eventually forcing the ball over the line through Jamie Guttridge to regain the lead.

The last 20 minutes of the game passed by tensely with neither side giving ground to the other, with the only moment of note coming as Rams held up a potential Clifton try, but they managed to hold on till the end for their ninth win in a row.

Rams travel to second-bottom Birmingham & Solihull this Saturday, before playing their final game of 2018 at home to basement boys London Irish Wild Geese the week after.