OXFORD CAVALIERS 12

GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS 56

THE Warriors secured their first away win of the season with a comfortable 56-12 defeat of depleted Oxford Cavaliers at Harcourt Hill.

The side ran in 11 tries and sealed the game with half an hour to go when Luke Stephens forced his way over from close range and Ash Lewis tagged on the goal for a 34-8 lead.

The first half was a good contest with both sides attacking with spirit and defending stubbornly but it was the Warriors that had the cutting edge right from the off.

Dale Cooper opened the scoring for the visitors with barely two minutes on the clock. The Cavaliers soon replied through Jackson Lambert-Walker but the Warriors inched ahead again when Giovanni Centorrino touched down Joel James’ kick to the wing.

Roger Birkin then powered over before Cooper turned Cavaliers’ full back Josh Kelly inside out on a 40-metre run to the posts.

Just before the break, Stephens gave the Warriors a 24-4 interval lead touching down from Ash Lewis’ excellent offload.

Sissuione scored for the Cavaliers with barely 30 seconds gone in the second half which triggered a period where the Warriors seemed determined to hand the ball to their opponents at every opportunity.

This lasted until James’ midfield break was finished by Lewis and Stephens belied his slight frame by driving through tacklers on the goalline to touch down.

Then the floodgates opened and Ryan Solomon smashed his way over for a try and Connor Jones turned a move that was going nowhere into a score by racing over untouched from 20 metres out.

Though Bryn Evans pulled a score back for the Cavaliers, Lewis crossed again, beating half a dozen defenders to touch down and prop Birkin raced fully half the length of the field to go over for his side’s final try.