CLAVERDON continued their fine recent run at the weekend, winning their fourth successive game with a 60-5 thrashing of Kings Norton.
The visitors started as they intended to go on, taking a five-point lead within moments of the kick-off.
Alex Holden and John Grey worked the ball well before putting through Nick Green to score out wide.
Clav survived some pressure from the hosts in response before extending their lead – Luke Rogers scoring the first try of an eventual hat-trick.
Kings Norton were pinned back in their own corners with some long kicks upfield and sustained pressure by the onrushing visitors.
That pressure eventually told when Steve Grimsley put the ball down in the corner for a 17-0 lead.
Sam Turrell then evaded two tackles before booting the ball upfield, which set up Tom Johnson to overlap and score an unconverted try.
James Williams received possession following a scrum and expertly punted a kick forwards which was received by Grey, who sprinted over the line for a 27-0 half-time lead.
Captain James Barton issued a warning to his side to guard against complacency and that message seemed to resonate when Barton himself ran 40 metres to score within a minute of the restart.
Kings Norton managed to get themselves on to the scoreboard following an excellent overlap in play in which the hosts scored out wide.
A converted Lions try was the perfect response to conceding themselves as Ed Smith took the loose ball and scored in the corner.
Claverdon followed up with a second successive converted try, this time provided by Rogers for his second of the afternoon – taking the visitors’ lead to 46-5.
Another converted try followed as Clav continued to rip the hosts to shreds.
Rogers claimed his hat-trick after evading the Kings Norton defensive line to get in behind and cross the whitewash.
The rout was completed when Barton was fed the ball by Ali Norman to get his second of the game.
Fourth-placed Claverdon’s excellent all-round performance provides them with plenty of confidence going into their final game of the Midlands Four West (South) season, when they host third-placed Old Wheatleyans at Ossetts Hole Lane on Saturday (3pm).
