St Ives delivered a second-half performance worthy of the occasion to claim an emphatic derby success last Saturday.

The Bulls rampaged to a 47-11 victory against St Neots in an eagerly-anticipated clash of the Huntingdonshire rivals in Midlands Division Three East (South).

A side, boosted by selection headaches of a positive kind following weeks of injury troubles, ran in eight tries to take the local bragging rights.

Triumphant skipper Josh Dear said: “It goes to show what we are capable of performing when we train well and get the right squad out onto the pitch on a Saturday afternoon.

“We need to learn those lessons and make sure we build on this success.”

There was little hint of the high-scoring to follow as Ollie Bartlett crossed to earn St Ives the only try of the opening period, but they trailed at the break to two penalties from the boot of Saints man Lewis Hall.

But they soon seized control in the second period. Josh Meadows sprinted in for a try quickly followed by another from John Paxton.

Jim Robinson slotted over a penalty before Meadows added a second try.

Mickey Drake then jinked his way over for a fine score before Luke Slade got in on the act after pouncing from the base of a scrum.

James Wood powered clear of a ragged defence immediately after the restart to provide the Bulls’ sixth try and former St Neots man Duncan Williams applied further gloss to an already emphatic scoreline in the dying moments.

Victory was not enough to lift St Ives off the bottom of the table, but it did move them to within a point of a gaggle of four other teams including St Neots. Adam Peel got the Saints’ only try on an afternoon to forget.

Both sides are on home turf this Saturday as St Ives host Daventry and St Neots entertain Corby side Stewart & Lloyds, both 2.15pm.