With 10 players missing through injury and unavailability, the home side were still able to see off their opponents with an eight try romp.

With the pre match talk focused on the getting the bonus point and how it was important not to panic if things did not go their way, the Illts had their fourth try and the game wrapped up within the first twenty minutes.

Crowd favourite Anthony Cachia opened the scoring in the corner after some nice hands through the Illts backline before Sam Perrett, playing in an unfamiliar role on the wing due to the many absentees, scored in the opposite corner in an almost carbon copy of the first try.

Cachia then notched his second try of the game shortly before being taken off as a precautionary measure with a knock to the ankle. Daniel Molcher replaced him slotting into the second row with Andrew Maunder going to the back row and skipper Phil Morse going out into the backs to slot in for Cachia.

Ryan 'Eddie' King then showed superb strength and pace to snatch two tries before the half time whistle.

The Illts pack had dominated their opposite numbers throughout the first 40 minutes with Adam Taylor, Mikey Hiscocks and Josh Harris comfortably on top of their Ferndale counterparts at the scrum.

'Eddie' managed to grab his hat trick early in the second half and could of scored a fourth before unselfishly offloading to Hiscocks who in turn gifted Duncan Law with the easiest try of his career by placing the ball in his hands over the try line.

The second half saw the introduction of Alessandro Abet and Stuart Wilby replacing Hiscocks and Harris but the replacements, along with Taylor, continued to torment the Ferndale front row.

Law then managed to score off his own back by charging through two defenders before rounding the winger to grab his second of the game and the Illts final try.

The Ferndale players were a credit to their team as they never gave up during the 80 minutes and were rewarded with a penalty kick in front of the posts late on in the game to avoid the dreaded whitewash.

Tom Wheeler was impressive at the breakdown as always as was Molcher who put in a dogged shift in the second row and James Harris was aggressive at scrum half always looking for quick ball. Fly half and second best coach Adam Staniforth was also impressive and notched five out of his side's eight conversions.

Despite the final scoreline, the Illts never really got out of second gear but still did more than enough to see off a spirited opposition.

The team know that a massive improvement will be needed next weekend when they travel to inform Dinas Powys looking for another important victory in the race for promotion and that all important first place finish.