FLYING winger Matt Hallett downed a hat-trick of tries in Ledbury’s rousing 38-22 win at Old Wheatleyans, a result that rubber-stamped a fourth-place finish in Midlands 3 West (South).

Ledbury had to defend well early on, but broke out in style to take the lead with a superbly crafted score from Kev Murphy, which George Bennion converted.

The home side then put some points on the board with three tries earning a 19-7 advantage, but Ledbury stepped up a gear for Jamie Rayfield to go over following some quick thinking from Dave Bromage.

A third try soon followed, with another barnstorming run from Chris Stokes resulting in Hallett having a simple walkover to open his account. Bennion landed another conversion to leave Ledbury 21-19 ahead at the break.

Ledbury were against the wind in the second period and were further handicapped when injuries forced off both Ali Park and Stokes.

But Bennion and Sonny Bill combined for Hallett to dance around the full-back for another converted try and with the Ledbury pack dominating, the reliable Bennion added another penalty before Wheats replied to trim the deficit to 31-22.

Any hope of a home comeback was dashed when Hallett intercepted and ran 30 metres to complete a stylish treble, with Bennion again adding the conversion.

Bromyard were beaten 22-17 at Telford Hornets in a mid-table Midlands 4 West (North) clash and now complete their programme with two home games against Cannock (this Saturday) and bottom-of-the-table Tenbury (on Saturday, April 11). In South West Gloucester 2, Ross were comfortable 24-12 winners over Bristol Aeroplane Co.