A hat-trick of tries from captain Steph Clarke helped North Midlands Women beat Leicestershire 29-12 in their second county match at Five Ways OE.
Clarke scored her first try after five minutes of sustained pressure and was soon followed by a second from Sophie Jackson after an off-load from Zoe Bennion who added the conversion.
Clarke crossed again before the break to give North Midlands a 17-0 half-time lead but Leicestershire reducedthe deficit with a converted try early in the second period.
North Midlands required resilient defence, led by Stephanie Smith, Nicola Brown and Harriet Mustard and important turnovers from Boe Meaton and Joy Potter to keep Leicestershire at bay.
But wing Megan Jones lifted the siege when she crossed for a try that followed up her own 70 metres sprint and Clarke completed her hat-trick n the dying minutes after quick turnover ball found her in space.
Mustard was named as player of the match by the coaching team.