Shelford 18
Hartpury 39
Hartpury extended their winning run to five matches with a comfortable triumph at Shelford.
John Barnes' side will have been pleased with such an impressive margin of victory against a fifth-placed Shelford outfit whose only previous home defeat of the season came courtesy of Redruth in November.
But a lack of discipline and plethora of unforced errors, which prevented an even more emphatic score line, will need to be addressed ahead of next week's vital home match against promotion rivals Henley Hawks.
In glorious Cambridgeshire sunshine, the visitors roared into a 10-0 lead inside five minutes as Craig Jackson slotted a penalty before converting Seb Rodwell's try, which came after a scything Ian Clark break.
Adam White's penalty for Shelford reduced the deficit, but the hosts lost Jamie Cullen to the sin bin for a tip-tackle and Hartpury's Chris Fortey touched down from the resulting catch-and-drive, improved by Jackson.
Numbers were even again three minutes later when visiting prop Darren Crompton saw yellow and White added another three points from in front of the posts.
Despite the hosts returning to their full complement first, it was the 14 men of Hartpury who grabbed the next score as prop Chad Thorne, on the field to cover Crompton's absence, was driven over from another maul.
But the visitors were sloppy in their execution at times, with their errors granting the sizeable home pack field position and placing themselves under significant pressure.
They almost held out until the break, only for Shelford's influential number eight Aki Lea to free his arms and offload to winger Matt Johnston for a try on the stroke of half time.
Third-placed Hartpury need every point on offer to stand a chance of promotion, and they sealed the crucial bonus shortly after the restart when the outstanding Tom Ailes twisted over from close range.
Lock Sam Raven was then ordered to the sin bin as Hartpury found themselves on the back foot again.
But the depleted Gloucestershire side withstood their opponents' onslaught and late tries from Clark and Jackson, both released by Elliott Stooke after some patient phase play, made the result certain.
Shelford were resilient, however, and grabbed a consolation at the death through Johnston, White striking the conversion.
SHELFORD: S Chiwangai; A Scott, A Barnard, R Brady (A Kelsall 69), M Johnston; A White, C Baker; L Beales (M Anderson 49), N Conroy, S Mullins (N Arnold 59); E Mills, D Grey (A Hutchinson 52); J Billows, J Cullen (R Finlayson 43-46, 73), A Lea
HARTPURY : C Jackson; S Marsden, A Dancer (R Haile 41), S Rodwell, I Clark; L Cozens (T Stevenson 61), C Stuart-Smith; J Gibbons, C Fortey (C O'Connell 69), D Crompton (C Thorne 41); E Stooke, S Raven (W Graulich 61); N Thomas (C Thorne 20-27), T Ailes, G Evans
Referee: Rob Warburton (RFU)
