RISING star Keiran Walton scored a scintillating hat-trick at Finstall Park as Bromsgrove thrashed struggling Dudley Kingswinford 50-15 on Saturday.
The young wing, who was playing for Bromsgrove Colts last season, grabbed his first in a dominant opening period which saw the hosts secure the bonus point by half time.
DK managed to hit back with two tries after the break, but Bromsgrove proved too good as Walton completed his hat-trick to wrap up a convincing win in National Three Midlands.
The victory will be another boost for head coach Dan Protherough and his players who are just beginning to gel after several changes in the summer.
However, it was one of their old brigade who put the first points on the board for Bromsgrove after five minutes. James Lloyd-Jones made a typically aggressive run from about 25 metres where he brushed off a number of tackles before scoring by the posts. Tom Biggs converted.
DK briefly got themselves into the match with a penalty, but the rest of the half was all Bromsgrove as they notched up three unanswered tries. Firstly, Walton dotted down after a break from Lloyd-Jones before number eight Phil Horton scored a fine solo try.
Bromsgrove then completed a superb opening 40 minutes with a try from Jamie Tsang who finished off an impressive driving maul. Biggs added the extras to give his side a 29-3 lead at half-time.
And it looked like it was going to be all one way in the second period as well as Walton crossed the whitewash.
But the visitors, who are still without a win since being relegated from National Two North, came back into it, with two tries, which were sandwiched between Tom Hunt’s score.
Bromsgrove managed to regain their superiority in the last ten minutes and rounded off the victory with two long range tries. Walton sprinted home for his third before Ieuan Mustow ran the length of the pitch to score after a fortuitous interception.
