OLD Halesonians RFC’s recent good run was brought to a shuddering halt as they were humbled 42-5 by leaders Burton.

The visitors ran in six tries, Ian Gilmour grabbing a hat-trick as Old Hales struggled to cope with the power of their forwards.

Old Hales now slip to ninth in Midlands One West and will look to quickly rebound when they visit Camp Hill on Sturday.

After a spell of early Hales pressure, Burton took the lead on ten minutes when a surging run from John Philliskirk allowed Dan Smith to race over the line, Tom Bartram adding the extra points.

The game was end-to-end at this stage but it was Burton who struck again before the break through Gilmour, following a good move which included Philliskirk, Smith and Betty.

Both sides were penalised for penalties early in the second period but Burton began to assert their domination and from a solid scrum just inside the Hales half Philliskirk burst clear to score, Bartram converting to make it 21-0.

Hales fought back, pulling a score back when Philliskirk knocked on in front of his own posts.

But the visitors soon hit back, Gilmour adding his second score to restore the 21 point difference.

Hales pushed hard to get back into the game but Burton’s defence held strong and Philliskirk was again the danger man on the counter attack, bursting through tackle to feed Gilmour for another score.

Bartram’s conversion increased Burton lead to 35-5 as Burton continued to press forward in their search for yet more points.

With two minutes remaining Gavin Cole intercepted a pass inside his own 22 to race 75 metres and scored under the posts. Bartram added the icing on the cake as his sixth conversion sailed over the bar.