MEN'S RUGBY: Chalcraft hat-trick helps Towcestrians to win in Alliance Cup

Playing against a driving wind, Tows opened the scoring inside a minute through centre Pepe Nanci.

James Falvey, who has been knocking them over like skittles recently, added the extras, but with the underfoot conditions worsening by the minute, Tows’ running game failed to function, with the visitors putting up a determined defensive effort.

Tows had all the possession they could want but only showed their class on a couple of occasions, with Alex Chalcraft continuing to add to his impressive tally with two more tries before the half was over.

Daventry replied with a penalty as Tows turned around 17-3 up.

With the wind at their backs, Tows added another try as Liam Wilkinson made the most of a lineout drive.

And the home side’s superiority started to tell in the final quarter as they ran in a further six tries.

Chalcraft completed his hat-trick, No.8 Craig Holton went over for a couple and Ben Roe and prop Peter Gowler claimed one apiece.

Meanwhile, Tows IIIs came back from what looked like a difficult away trip to Huntingdon IIs with a hugely impressive 21-12 victory, while the Colts game was abandoned after an injury with Tows leading 19-7.

Corby 31 Heathens 14

Heathens were unable to claim revenge for an early-season defeat as Corby earned the victory.

Fielding yet another much-changed line-up with a number playing out of position, Heathens faced a hard task against a well-organised side.

The strong and gusty down pitch wind was the master and Heathens were unable to counter an intelligent Corby offensive that utilised the conditions well in the first half to open up a big 26-0 differential by the break.

The visitors’ attempts to keep the game tight were foiled by the strong pack, which resulted in a number of turnovers that gifted possession to the hosts.

Corby opened the scoring after five minutes with an unconverted try following a lineout .

The lead was extended on 11 minutes when a break by the outstanding No.8 led to a converted try.

This was followed by further converted tries on 20 and 38 minutes.

Heathens faced a hard task to overcome the sizeable deficit in the second half, despite having the wind at their backs.

And their cause was not helped when Corby surged up the pitch for an unconverted try within three minutes of the restart.

The visitors then settled and began to claw their way back into this Youngs Bitter merit table fixture, putting the Corby line under pressure.

It eventually bore fruit on 62 minutes when scrum-half and skipper Marty Campbell crossed under the posts from the back of a scrum for a try.

The conversion was added hooker Simon Smith.

Campbell was now leading Heathens from the front, putting in a man of the match performance and dragging his side back into contention.

This pressure paid further dividends when No.8 Dan Stonehouse crashed over from a tap penalty for a five-pointer that was again converted by Smith.

But time was now running out and Heathens were unable to add to their score.

Heathens return to friendly action this Saturday when they entertain Market Harborough IIIs on The Racecourse. Kick-off is at 2.15pm.