Mark Liebling and Jeremy Burton both scored hat-tricks as Belsize Park ran in 12 tries in a crushing 72-7 home win over Hitchin, remaining level on points with league leaders London Nigerian in London North-West Division Three.
Belsize went ahead less than 30 seconds into the match as winger Liebling tapped down the kick-off to Miran Serdarevic, who exchanged passes with Will Ville and crossed the whitewash.
Hooker Stewart Shaw then sent Serdarevic on another run and he off-loaded to Alex Baboolal, who went over the line, while driving mauls from the line-out soon resulted in two more tries for Burton and Ben Parker.
Man of the match Liebling touched down twice in succession, opening his account after a 60-metre run and then finishing off a fine back-line move. And, although the hosts momentarily relaxed and conceded at the other end, they led 37-7 at half-time.
The onslaught continued after the break, with two more tries from driving mauls – Shaw and prop Vytas Semogas getting the glory – before Burton added his second try from a brilliant kick chase.
Belsize were awarded a penalty try after a strong scrum, and some magic from Chris Dan sent Liebling over for his third try before Jack Marples freed Burton, who completed his own treble in the corner.
Director of rugby Zach Webb said: “We have worked a lot on leading with an aggressive defence and using our defensive line-out to gain more than parity at the line-out, and also at the scrum.
“With that dominance up front by our pack, our backs have really been able to display their quality in attack.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here