A HAT-TRICK of tries from George Lewis helped Witney beat Old Centralians 44-33 at Hailey Road.

The west Oxfordshire side raced into a 14-0 lead after 29 minutes of the South West 1 East clash, thanks to three Henry Lamb penalties and captain Gareth Campbell’s score.

Centralians hit back through Reuben Goatley’s converted try, before two more Lamb penalties extended Witney’s lead to 20-7.

The visitors had Peter Willetts sin-binned, but cut the deficit to six points at half-time, when Nathan Stroud went over.

James Merriman crashed over to extend Witney’s lead and Lewis crossed to make it 34-14 after the visitors once again had a player yellow-carded.

Witney’s dominance continued, when Lewis crossed twice for his hat-trick, but the last ten minutes belonged to the visitors.

Tries from Lewis May, Niall Gibbons and Goatley saw them close to within 11 points, but the hosts had done enough.

Banbury made it three wins in a row, when beating Royal Wootton Bassett 38-28 at home.

Despite conceding an early try, two Ed Phillips penalties put the home side into a 6-5 lead.

An interception try and two penalties saw the visitors edge ahead, but Phillips had added a further six points from the boot as the visitors held a 13-12 advantage.

Banbury hit back just before the break, with Chris Phillips forcing his way over. Ed Phillips converted to make it 19-13.

Once again the visitors replied to reclaim their one-point lead, but Joe Mills crossed twice to make it 31-20 to Bulls. Ed Phillips added the extras for the first.

A penalty kept Wootton Bassett in touch, but Ed Phillips converted his own try to make it 38-23.

Sam Mills was sin-binned for Bulls as the visitors crossed again, but Banbury held on.

Oxford Harlequins suffered a 68-22 defeat at Maidenhead.

They conceded six tries in the first half to trail 40-3 at the break, with Sam Watkinson kicking a penalty for the visitors.

Jack Crowe, Freddy Exley and Allan Purchase crossed for Quins in the second half, but the hosts added four more tries.

Grove enjoyed a 34-7 win over Reading.