Old Priorians Saints took the spoils in their first away game of the season, running in seven tries - from seven different scorers - in a 43-5 win over Hackney at Spring Hill Recreation Ground.

A surprisingly firm pitch lent itself well to running rugby, with Hackney making a solid start despite having to play the fixture with fourteen men - yet it was OPs who were first to score with five minutes on the clock, winger Will Adams able to dive and pounce on the loose ball following a clever kick through the left channel in the host's half.

Signs then began to point towards superiority for the Saints as they were able to retain most of the possession, but overrunning of the phases and misplaced passes saw promising moves end prematurely. Chris Flavell's excellent take from a clearing kick set a flowing move in the backs into motion, the play moving wide before captain Will Poyntz's incisive cut through the defence yielded another five points. 5-0 became 12-0 following Cian McBride's successful conversion.

Priorians were proving to be somewhat indisciplined in the first 40 minutes and went down to fourteen men for repeated offsides at the ruck, levelling up the numbers temporarily. Yet, they further extended their lead minutes later through more good work from Flavell, putting a kick over the advancing backline which debutant Ollie Wilson latched on to and finished ; this put the visitors 19-0 up at the break, a fair reflection of the half.

Back up to full complement for the start of the second half, the narrative didn't change as OPs pressed for the bonus point ; they spurred a chance around 50 minutes in with an overlap appearing on the wing, another pass not going to hand. Amends were soon made, Jordan Porteous (moved to the wing after an injury in the backs) stepping in to give himself options on the right, Brendan Rice providing ample support to score under the posts. A fairly easy conversion and the bonus point was gained.

Hackney's already stretched numbers were further depleted to again reduce their numbers, from which the Saints capitalised. Two tries in three minutes from props Adam Gurdikyan and James Sarek (providing assists to each other in the process) put more sheen on the scoreboard, along with a tremendous 50 metre break from second row Ed Page five minutes from time to put Priorians within one converted try of a half century.

That did not materialise and in fact it was Hackney who were able to press in the dying embers of the game as OPs conceded penalty after penalty. A series of tap-and-go moves saw them cross the line in the final play, much deserved given their determination across the 80 minutes ; the conversion went wide to end the afternoon at 43-5 to OPRFC.

Though the Saints may be slightly disappointed to have conceded and not complete a shutout, their defence was otherwise extremely solid, as were the attacking moves, especially on the counter, with a number of powerful carries across the pitch.

Flavell's performance at full back led to a well warranted Player of the Match award, proving to be the architect of more than one score and shaping the back line into success. The result moves Old Priorians up to fourth in the table following this weekend's fixtures.

OPRFC SCORERS

T : Adams, Poyntz, Wilson, Rice, Gurdikyan, Sarek, Page

C : McBride 4