Chris Ellis scored a hat-trick of touchdowns as Oxford Saints moved top of BAFL Division 2 West after a convincing 41-0 victory over Gloucester Centurions.

Despite being without a game for the past few weeks, Saints showed no signs of rustiness as they recorded an emphatic win at Abingdon RFC.

They got off to a flying start when in just the third play of the game, Dean Bryan intercepted a pass and sprinted in for a 54-yard touchdown.

Ellis then went over as Saints quickly built up a 13-0 advantage.

Ellis scored his second touchdown of the game to put Oxford into a commanding lead.

With the second quarter winding down, Harry Carr outpaced the Gloucester back- line to score, allowing Jonny Dover to kick his third extra point from four attempts as they went into half-time 27-0 ahead.

Saints made the game safe with two touchdowns soon after the restart.

The first, following a sustained drive from tight end James Walter, saw Ellis complete his hat-trick from 14 yards.

Quarterback Josh Randall then fed Sam Armstrong, who sprinted in from 38 yards to make it 41-0 with 20 minutes still to play.

Although Saints failed to build on their lead in the final quarter, they had already done enough to secure victory and enhance their reputation as one of the title favourites.

They will hope to build on this when they host the Bristol Apache at Abingdon RFC on Sunday.