Hartpury College 41 Clifton 31

Clifton RFC's David Rees saluted Hartpury's hat-trick hero Jonny May after the centre cut Clifton apart to secure the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup.

Former England international Rees was the last line of defence shredded by the 19-year-old Gloucester Rugby Academy star as the students capped another promotion-winning season by toppling a club two divisions higher.

Rees, back at Twickenham where he won his first cap in 1997, said: "The lad ran some great lines and he's got a lot of confidence - he just went for it. He looked as if he was enjoying himself out there and certainly knew where the try-line was."

May will be back next Wednesday for the British Universities Colleges Cup final against UWIC but for now he is savouring the moment of a triple touch down, including two in seven second-half minutes.

He was joined on the try sheet by the red-booted Matt Betty, who touched down twice, replacement Matt Gilbert, while fly-half Sam Dimmick kicked 11 points.

"It's probably the best day of my life," said May, from Wootton Bassett. "But it was a great team effort and it's credit to the way Hartpury play that they encourage ball in hand. Hopefully we can double up against UWIC on Wednesday."

While Hartpury are celebrating another piece of Twickenham silverware to add to the Junior Vase (2007) and Senior Vase (2008), there was no dream finish to their South West One promotion winning season for Clifton.

They pushed their opponents close with tries from David Butler, Darren Barry and Phil Schmid, while player-coach John Barnes kicked 16 points, but were undone by Allan Lewis' youngsters.

Rees, still on a high after the birth last week of twin girls to partner Emma, said: "One of our aims was to make it a tight game and to really test them and perhaps have the edge mentally. I was pleased with the way the guys stuck at it but in the end they were just too quick for us."

Clifton almost got off to a dream third-minute start when Barnes chipped over and the ball landed between the posts for Steve Leonard to chase only for the centre to knock on as he dived to touch down under pressure from the Hartpury cover.

Barnes did put his side in front with a penalty three minutes later when Hartpury went over the top at a ruck.

However, the students soon opened up on the Twickenham expanse with full-back Matt Evans coming into the line and sending Betty over in the corner.

Dimmick converted and then added the easiest of extras to May's try after the centre intercepted Barnes' pass and raced 60 metres to score.

Clifton cut Hartpury's lead to one point at halftime when England Students and Bristol University centre David Butler jinked his way through three tackles to crash over and Barnes converted.

But then the floodgates opened with a double from May within seven minutes of the restart before Barry went over in the corner to keep Clifton in the hunt. Schmid followed on the scoresheet and Barnes added the conversion before adding a long-range penalty.

But then Hartpury spun the ball wide and May fed Betty the final pass for the winger to race 22 metres to score. Matt Gilbert added the killer punch when he crashed over.

Hartpury College: M Evans; P Jarvis, J May, J Botha, M Betty; S Dimmick, S Lynn; R Townsend, B Hunter, C Turner, R Cadman, W Waldron, W Pretorius (capt), A Rose, H Molitaka. Reps: M Gilbert for Molitaka 46, B Field for Lynn 46, T Savage for Cadman 54. Not used: L Fisher, M Weller, A Price, C Hawkins.

Scorers: Tries: May (3), Betty (2), Gilbert, Pen: Dimmick; Cons: Dimmick (4)

Clifton: D Rees; A Bell, S Leonard, D Butler, O Sills; J Barnes, D Frost (capt); L Glass, S Wilkes, P Reid, D Barry, V Murrell, P Schmid, J Levis. Reps: H Mace for Barry 53-63), R Viol for Bell 53, A Raines for Wilkes 71, Mace for Reid 71, S Kent for Viol 74, G Hardy for Glass 77, A Alison for Rees 77, R White for Rowland 77.

Scorers: Tries: Butler, Barry, Schmid; Pens: Barnes (4); Cons: Barnes (2)

Referee: C Sharp (RFU)