St Neots rapid ascent of the Midlands Division Three East (South) standings continued last Saturday with a fourth win in six games.

Saints put bottom side Old Newtonians to the sword as a 32-15 bonus-point success made the long trip to Leicestershire worthwhile.

Dan Court finished off a fine team try that gave St Neots the ideal start. Lewis Hall successfully converted and also guided over two of three penalty attempts in the first half to open up a 13-3 advantage at the interval.

Big forward Jon Hopewell powered over for Saints’ second try soon after the restart and Cameron Howson soon followed him over for another touch-down.

Man-of-the-match Court’s second try secured the bonus point and ensured victory was in the bag long before Old Newtonians controversially grabbed a consolation try which was given despite the ball being held up.

Stand-in St Neots skipper Grant Hobbs said: “Having played Old Newtonians last season, we knew what to expect.

“We knew we had to match them physically up front and dominate the set piece, which are both things we managed.

“We consistently put them on the back foot and coming away with a bonus-point win shows the strides we are making as a squad.”

While St Neots were seeing off bottom-of-the-table opposition, St Ives were being beaten by the Division Three East (South) leaders.

The Bulls went down 31-9 to an Oundle side who St Neots now face this Saturday at The Common.

St Ives entertain Rugby St Andrews at Somersham Road.