WITNEY scored five tries as they cruised to a 31-8 victory at home to Newbury Blues in South West 1 East.

The visitors travelled to Hailey Road sitting third in the table, having conceded only 48 points in six matches.

And despite a Ryan Trevaskin penalty giving Newbury the lead on 12 minutes, it was the west Oxfordshire side who came out on top.

Two three-pointers from Matt Clarke edged Witney ahead after 27 minutes and prop Jamie Burke’s try made it 11-3 after good play from Dave Hyde and Richard Haire.

There was still time for Newbury to respond in the first half and Tom Sanders crossed on 36 minutes as the hosts led 11-8 at the break.

Witney’s Charlie Bennett was yellow carded in the process.

In the second half, Haire broke into Newbury’s 22 and found George Lane who crossed for an unconverted try on 41 minutes to extend their advantage to 16-8.

The hosts’ scrum began to dominate and after several charges for the try line, Burke scored for the second time in the corner.

Arron Lambourne and Rhys Morgan added further tries in the final ten minutes for a convincing win.

Witney are next in action on Saturday when they travel to sixth-place Swindon.

In the BB&O Premier, Chipping Norton earned their second win of the season as they edged past Chesham 13-12 to move up to third from bottom.