Clayton 0, Wyke 52

Liam Hay scored a hat-trick of tries as Wyke claimed local bragging rights and top spot in Division Two with a crushing Pennine League derby victory at Clayton.

The visitors made full use of the notorious Scholemoor Road slope to blitz the Villagers with six first-half tries.

Wyke were on the board as early as the second minute when loose forward Ash Hutchinson took a short ball to crash over under the sticks, Micky Wormald adding the extras.

Both sides then had spells of possession, with Clayton half-backs Scott Pendlebury and Dane Bairstow to the fore while the strong running of Wyke forwards Simon Owen and Ian Wormald also caught the eye.

But Wyke extended their lead on 18 minutes when Ian Wormald found brother Micky, who put winger Hay over to score.

Clayton had to dig deep and only superb defence on their own line prevented a further try.

Wyke then capitalised on a Clayton error when winger Brad Ellis picked up a loose ball to race in from 40 yards.

The visitors were in again on 30 minutes when stand-off Duane Platt retained the ball on a run-around move to fool the home defence and dive under the posts.

With the half-time whistle approaching, Wyke had time to post two further tries.

First Micky Wormald crashed over following a neat offload from Adrian Docherty and then Ian Wormald left the defence flat-footed as he spun from acting half to cross the whitewash.

Clayton came out fired up in the second half and, with Chris Baker in full flow, the Wyke defence had their hands full as they fiercely defended their line.

But Wyke struck again just short of the hour mark when Platt found centre John Rayner in support and he neatly stepped his way over. Hay then picked up his second try when he came on to a flat ball to pierce the Villagers’ defence and scoot over.

And the winger sealed his treble as he took advantage of some tired tackling to break up the middle and finish in style.