SIMON Hussey thinks Old Halesonians' destruction of Dudley Kingswinford last Saturday is a sign they are living up to their potential.

Hales bagged a 68-0 derby day success at Wassell Grove in front a bumper crowd on the club's President's Day.

Team Manager Hussey said: "This was a showcase local derby game for us, particularly in front of such a big enthusiastic crowd.

"We showed our true potential and I hope we can now keep the momentum up to the Christmas break."

From the outset Hales stamped their mark on the game, forwards and backs immediately went hunting for the ball.

Almost immediately they gained a line out just on half way which was won by second row Tom King. He presented a clean ball to Nathan Jones who started a series of 15 phases of up front driving by the forwards led by Tom Jordan, Loz Breese, Mark Evans and Jay Martin.

This was finished off after being passed through the backs to winger Luke Smith who out sprinted the defence for his first try after only four minutes, converted by Chris Hooper.

Smith then went on to complete his hat-trick after just 17 minutes as the score moved to 19-0.

Ten minutes passed during which Hales were continuing to make easy yards through many phases of play. They were rewarded on 27 minutes when Andy Robinson kept his feet and drove to the line to score his first try of the season, and a bonus point score. Again Hooper converted.

Five minutes later the home side found itself with a scrum 15 yards out, Jones passed to Hooper standing at 10. He dummied his way through the DK defence to score under the posts, he also converted for a 33-0 half time lead.

The second half started pretty much the same as the first ended. The Hales attack became incessant with Jordan, Young, Taylor, Burrows and King at the forefront of the action. The backs were well coordinated by Jones and Williams providing many opportunities in attack.

The visitors were penalised for foul play under pressure and lost a player to a yellow card on 53 minutes. The next scrum resulted in a pick up from Evans, supported by back row Martin who powered his way through for a well taken try, converted by Hooper to make it 40-0.

Warren Oliver replaced Luke Smith on the wing and was quickly into the action. On 59 minutes, he picked up on half way and sprinted through unopposed for try number seven, again converted by the ever impressive Hooper.

With both teams back to full strength, the 62nd minute saw DK's scrum disrupted enough to give prop Dempsey the chance to pick up from 20 yards and barge his way through for a great try.

Young then sprinted over for his first which Hooper converted to make it 61-0.

With only minutes of the game left, the rampant Hales pack would not let up. Coach Evans took lineout ball inside the DK half. They mauled 20 yards, Jones fed centre Carl Robinson who finished the day off with the final try, unsurprisingly converted by Hooper.

Hales travel to Hinckley this Saturday.