The centre scored one and assisted one in an evenly matched first half, before crossing twice in five second half minutes to set Clevedon on the way to a commanding bonus-point win.

Full back Mike Taylor touched down twice and kicked 15 points to finish with a personal haul of 25 points, while Oscar James and Josh Mortimore also got in on the act as the home side made it four wins in succession.

But they didn’t have it all their own way and after a period of prolonged pressure, it was North Petherton who took the lead courtesy of wing Gavin Hancock.

Harry Roberts added the conversion from out wide, but they weren’t in front for long, as Brian Largenton’s deft offload set Rice away through the middle and the centre fixed the covering defence before finding Oscar James to dot down under the posts.

Taylor converted to level the scores and the home side soon surged into a lead they would not relinquish – but not before Pethy’s Matt Hastie was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

Returning a kick, Taylor moved the ball to centre Dean Ashfield, whose outrageous over-the-shoulder pass set Rice away again – and this time he needed no support, outpacing Pethy full-back Harry Roberts to touch down for Clevedon’s second try.

But back came Pethy, taking advantage of some slack play from the home side – who were guilty of trying to overplay in their own half – to score in the left-hand corner, with Hancock grabbing his second.

With the match in the balance, Clevedon struck the killer blow early in the second half with two tries in five minutes.

First, Owen Biggins took the ball to the line and threaded an expertly timed pass into the path of Rice who finished with aplomb – and minutes later the centre, who was later awarded man of the match, shook off a handful of tackles before motoring 40 metres to score in the right-hand corner.

This blitz knocked the stuffing out of the visitors and Clevedon took full advantage, scoring three more in the final 20 minutes.

North Petherton did score a third courtesy of a neat handling move, but it was a mere consolation.

After Ashfield had sliced through the visitor’s midfield to take play into the Pethy 22, Will Carpenter’s floated pass put Mike Taylor in the corner and the full back converted his own try.

Scrum-half Mortimore powered over from close range for try number six, and with the final play of the game, Taylor nipped in to steal an interception and cruise in from 30 metres.

Clevedon face a tough trip to Chard on Saturday.