CLAVERDON continued their fine recent run at the weekend, winning their fourth successive game in a 60-5 thrashing of Kings Norton going into the final weekend of the season.
The visitors started as they intended to go on, taking a five-point lead within minutes of the kick-off.
Alex Holden and John Grey worked the ball well before setting through Nick Green to score out wide.
Clav survived some pressure from the hosts in response to extend their lead, Luke Rogers taking 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 took the ball down in the corner for a 17-0 lead.
Sam Turrell then evaded two tackles before booting the ball upfield, which set through 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 Gray – 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 onto the scoreboard following an excellent overlap in play in which the hosts scored out wide.
A converted try was the perfect response to conceding themselves, after 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 visitor’s 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 solid Kings Norton defensive line to get in behind and cross the whitewash.
With minutes remaining, the rout was completed when Barton was fed the ball by Ali Norman to get his second of the game.
Claverdon’s excellent all-round performance provides them with plenty of confidence going into their final game of the Midlands 4 West (South) season, when they host third-placed Old Wheatleyans at Ossetts Hole Lane on Saturday (3pm).
