Clifton have had a better start to this season than Old Albanian and this 43-7 drubbing of the Woollams men will give them confidence going into the Christmas period.

It will also serve notice to anyone who didn't know that successful rugby depends on a strong set-piece. Clifton had it and Albanian struggled to keep pace.

It seemed for some time that OAs were in with a shout as three points separated the protagonists at half-time.

A missed tackle in midfield allowed Alex Lambert to score for Clifton, Brad Barnes converting that and adding a penalty.

At this stage OAs were winning the territorial tussle and had a fair share of possession and it was no surprise when a dogged attack ended in a penalty try.

But that was as close as they got and 12 minutes into the second period, Clifton started to power away.

A penalty try was added by other scores by two from Henry Harper, Niall Gibbons and Finlay Sharp. Barnes and Tom Jones notched a conversion each.