OLD Grovians made it a hat-trick of successive wins in Yorkshire Division Two after a commanding 42-24 win at Wheatley Hills.

Andy Hinchliffe was able to field a near-unchanged side from the previous week’s victory over Northallerton, with Alex Masterson returning to the side at fly-half as the only change.

Wheatley Hills started the brighter of the two sides, playing down the hill with the wind at their backs.

Well-known as a powerful scrummaging outfit, their pack set the platform, with powerful running across the board and in truth, weak Grovians defending.

Hills scored the opening try, a midfield miss pass and great angled run pierced the OG backline, scoring to the left of the posts, which was converted.

Grovians responded well, with controlled build-up play working their way up the pitch.

Ill-discipline from the hosts led to a Grovians penalty under the sticks, with captain Ben Brown wisely opting to convert, reducing the deficit to 7-3.

Further ill-discipline followed, with Hills' captain and No 8 seeing yellow for a high tackle on Masterson. Grovians kicked for touch from the resulting penalty, using quick ball off the top of the lineout, a neat midfield move sent centre Anthony Griffin under the posts for his team’s first try. Brown added the extras.

Hills worked their way into the OG half, with some heavy carries from their toiling forwards. Grovians were pinged for a breakdown infringement, with Hills this time opting for goal, drawing the teams level.

The visiting Grovians scored their second try through a piece of individual trickery from full-back Max Kennedy. Enabled by strong carries from Danny Secker, Will Robinson and Joe Garforth, Kennedy called for the ball on the short side, stepping back inside, beating three defenders to slide over the line from 30 yards out. Brown missed the conversion.

Five minutes into the second half and Grovians were in again, with strong carries from Garforth and Pad Burns leading to Matthew Worrall bundling his way over from five metres out. This time Brown’s kick landed, and Groves were 22-10 ahead and in search of their bonus point try.

They did not wait for long, breaking downfield from the following kick off. With the backline crying out for the ball, Brown and Masterson fed Burns, who broke from the 22 to score his first try of the season. This secured the bonus point, and Grovians were 29-10 ahead.

Weak midfield tackling and possibly a lapse in concentration led to a Hills prop trundling in from the 22-metre line, which with the added conversion took the score to 29-17, and Hills were back in the game.

Groves came haring back down the field, again with composed phase play. Masterson spotted an overlap on the blindside, with slick hands feeding Matt Dakin, who snuck in the corner to restore Grovians’ lead.

Again, the spirited home side came back, but solid defensive work from OGs meant a scrum just outside their own 22.

A miss pass sent Griffin charging up the far touchline, offloading to Kennedy running a smart support line, who raced home to score from halfway to put his side clear.

Another score from Hills reduced the deficit to 15 points with little over 10 minutes remaining. Brown knocked through a penalty with time winding down.