LUCTONIANS are bearing down on the top six sides after they powered to a convincing 3-33 victory on the road at Exeter University, who occupied fifth place in the National League 2 West table at the beginning of the day.

 Overnight rain resulted in a heavy pitch and the visitors employed the perfect tactics using their powerful pack of forwards to dominate the tight exchanges from the start.

Number eight Mat Hackley would go over for the first of five tries, on eight minutes, after the Lucs’ pack mauled over from a five-metre lineout, with Louis Silver adding the extras for a 0-7 lead.

Four minutes later the pack would replicate that effort, this time from 20 metres out, with loosehead prop Connor Deignan going over for 0-12.

Winger James Wheeler almost made it three tries inside 20 minutes for Lucs, but for the bounce of a ball evaded his grasp with the try-line beckoning.

Sam Walker kicked a penalty for the hosts, but this would only serve as minor respite for the hosts, as the visitors’ defence when a penalty was awarded. Hereford kicked into the corner and over the line again went the resultant maul on 28 minutes, with hooker Ben Link scoring his eighth try of the season.

Silver slotted over the extras for a 3-19 score-line that would remain the same to half time.

The students started the second period the sharper but Lucs withstood the early energy of the hosts and gradually began to assert themselves again through set-piece dominance, with multiple scrum penalties coming to the fore.

The continual stream of penalties allowed Lucs to remain camped in Exeter territory, and on 53 minutes when the home side’s openside flanker Luke Bralsford was sin-binned for cynically stopping a quick tap penalty, the visitors made no mistake.

Lucs again went to the lineout and mauled over for Link’s second score and the fourth try bonus point. Silver once again with the conversion for what now looked an unassailable 3-26 lead on 57 minutes.

With the final play of the game for Luctonians scored their fifth maul try, to complete Link’s hat-trick, sending him to the top of the division’s try-scorer standings. Tom Jones added the touchline conversion to round off a comprehensive 3-33 beating of the Devonshire men.