A FIRST half hat-trick from wing Ryan Clark eased Alcester to a comfortable win over Rugby Welsh at King’s Coughton.

Although the teams started the day on equal points in third and fourth, the lacklustre visitors struggled to cope with Alcester’s energy and pace out wide.

The home side ran in four unanswered tries in a dominant first-half performance, and then kept Rugby Welsh out in the second half to the delight of a large crowd assembled for the pre-match lunch organised by Courtney Wells on his President’s Day.

Ed Benskin opened the scoring in the second minute after a Tom Pedley try was ruled out for the hosts.

Pacy Clark scored his first in the tenth minute, and thanks to two superb conversions from Glyn Smith, the hosts were 14-0 up.

Clark got his second in the 33rd minute, but not before the referee disallowed two further Alcester tries for forward passes.

His third came on the stroke of half-time, chasing up a Rugby Welsh fumble and kicking the ball on, before falling on it over the line.

In the second half, Benskin got his second try before captain Jack Green wrapped things up. The win lifts Alcester to second in the table.

They take a break from league action this weekend as they visit rivals Claverdon for a friendly.