Captain Tom House praised a “magnificent” and “ruthless” victory as Belsize Park ran in 10 tries against Stevenage Town, triumphing 68-7 and moving into second place in London North-West Division Three.
There were nine different scorers, with Miran Serdarevic touching down twice in the first half, while Olly Budd added a couple of late drop goals to add an extra layer of gloss to a glittering team performance and a comprehensive final scoreline.
With Welwyn losing at leaders Fullerians, Belsize moved four points clear of their rivals into the top two – which may be enough to secure promotion – while sitting seven points off the summit.
“The men were magnificent, executing everything ruthlessly,” said House. “The forwards gave a brilliant platform to attack from and the defence was brilliant, so when their big runners came on to the ball they were hit backwards by two Belsize tacklers.
“We have been working really hard to close the gap at the top and moving into second place is a just reward.”
Belsize started poorly, with House knocking the ball on from the kick-off, but a good scrum shunted Stevenage backwards, with Adam French beating his opposite man up front.
Michael Downes led a maul and a turnover at the start of an excellent individual display, and Seb Dunnett carried the ball upfield, earning a line-out which produced the opening try as Will Allen scorched in on the left wing.
A great run from Sam Bennett helped to extend the lead, as he made ground with defenders hanging off him, and the forwards arrived to aid his effort before the ball was spun wide to Ben Parker, who touched down.
Stevenage hit back with a converted score with narrowed the gap to 10-7, but they were unable to add any more points during the match. Instead, Belsize roared away over the horizon.
Allen looked set for his second score but, instead, planted a grubber kick through for House – only for Rich Turner to mark an outstanding performance by gathering the ball and poaching the try.
When Stevenage missed a penalty, Richard Wilson kicked the ball from his own 22 and house won an important tackle and turnover. Turner kicked the ball down the right flank for Parker, who tackled the full-back as he attempted to clear, allowing Serdarevic to jog over the line.
BP were soon back on Stevenage’s five-metre line, winning a penalty. And, rather than opting for the three points, House showed faith in his forwards, who drove forward – and Dunnett picked the ball out of the back of the pack before drawing two opponents and offloading to Serdarevic, who slid over unchecked.
Parker added a sixth try before the interval, giving Belsize a 36-7 lead as the sides changed ends – and more of the same followed in the second period.
Michael Downes touched down after another drive from the forwards, and he was then replaced by Dan Steadman, who made an immediate impact, crashing over to get his own name on the scoresheet.
The forwards gained momentum again following a line-out, with Adam Caines catching the ball and organising the assault, winning a scrum which allowed Dunnett to pick and go from the base and score.
Belsize had passed the 50-point mark by now, and they weren’t finished yet, with Dunnett ghosting around an exhausted defence and finding Wilson, who drew the last man and put Chris Dan over.
There was still time for Budd to show his kicking prowess as he added two late drop goals.
Belsize Park, who have won all three of their league games in 2015 so far, will be hoping for more of the same when they travel to face basement boys Old Streetonians on Saturday.
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