Hastings Valley Vikings continued their smooth passage towards the Mid North Coast Rugby Union finals with an 82-12 hammering of a hapless Wauchope on Saturday.

The Thunder scored the first try within 90 seconds, but that was as good as it got as the Vikings cruised to a 14-tries-to-two victory.

Hastings Valley’s inaccurate goalkicking prevented the scoreline from blowing out even further.

Coach Dave Henry said the most pleasing aspect about the win was his team’s ability to “stick to their structure” in the one-sided contest.

“We committed to being the best we could be rather than just trying to be individuals and score tries,” he said.

While official possession stats aren’t recorded, the Vikings would have had about 80 per cent of the ball and as a result the Thunder had to do a lot of tackling.

It ultimately took its toll.

“If you’ve got the ball and control possession, you choke the opposition out of the game,” Henry said.

“Then when they do get the ball they’re at the wrong end of the field so they pretty much have to kick it and then you get it back.

“Possession leads to field position and then hopefully points.”

Hastings Valley’s slow start to the match provided an early wake-up call before they went on with the job.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, everyone’s entitled to a couple of tries,” Henry said.

The Vikings coach conceded the Thunder were doing it tough, but encouraged the club to ride out their current struggles.

“You want to see them do well because Wauchope playing in our comp and doing well will be a great thing for our comp going forward,” he said.

“This isn’t about racking up big scores against them.

“They’ve just got to get through this tough period that they’re in, but we’ve all been there.

“All clubs go through it; that’s just a part of life.”

With the finals just around the corner, Henry said he was satisfied with where the Vikings currently were at.

“We’re happy where we’re at, we’re all getting more comfortable with how we want to play,” he said.

“Next week against Snappers will be a huge day for us because we’ll know where we’re at and it could determine where we end up.”