CLAVERDON RFC moved top of the Midlands 4 West (South) after they maintained their perfect start to the season with a 49-17 bonus point win away at local rivals Harbury.
Sam Turrell touched down twice with further tries coming from Paris Garner-Jones, Charlie Byrd, Tom Hudson, James Kirby and captain James Williams whilst Chris Calcott added 14 points from the kicking tee.
Victory for Claverdon marked their eighth straight win since the beginning of the season – a decade on from their invincible campaign in 2010/11 – as they sit four points clear of Old Wheatleyans at the top of the table.
And the visitors scored the game’s first try when Turrell powered over the line after a cross-field kick was collected by George Redwood who made several metres before offloading to the former to dot down with Calcott adding the extras.
Claverdon soon extended their lead through Garner-Jones when he crawled over the line for his seventh try in eight matches after Williams broke the line and set Byrd away before the ball was recycled allowing the away side to score their second try of the afternoon.
A penalty further extended Claverdon’s lead to 15 points before Harbury responded with a try of their own despite appearing to knock-on in the process of grounding the ball to send the visitors into the break with a 15-7 lead.
And Claverdon scored their third try shortly after the interval when Byrd darted through a gap in the Harbury defence to dot down with the wind making life difficult for Calcott from the kicking tee.
Hudson then scored Claverdon’s bonus point try in the corner after some magical hands from Ben Husthwaite who produced a deft no-look pass to set up the score.
Harbury hit back with their second try before Turrell doubled his tally for the game when he received a cut out pass from Williams before diving over the line with Calcott converting.
Claverdon added two more tries to their total in the closing stages as Ali Norman and Redwood combined beautifully before the latter flicked a pass to the former who sent Kirby away to finish a move that began on their own five-metre line.
And skipper Williams completed the scoring for the visitors when he intercepted a pass on half-way before racing underneath the sticks with both late scores converted by Calcott.
Despite Harbury adding one final score at the death – Claverdon romped to a seven-try success to secure an eighth victory in as many matches.
Claverdon are next in action at home to Kings Norton on Saturday, December 11 with kick-off at 2.15pm.
