Yorkshire trio book Twickenham date
YORKSHIRE rugby is celebrating having three finalists in cup competitions at Twickenham in May.
Wheatley Hills edged a close semi-final with Devon side Cullompton 15-13 to book their place in the EDF Energy Senior Vase final and Castleford and Doncaster Phoenix will meet in the Junior Vase final.
In the Senior Vase, Wheatley Hills' forwards gave them the edge but it was close all the way. Stand-off Craig Barker kicked a 17th-minute penalty and full-back Ed Squires touched down on 30 minutes. Cullompton hit back in first half stoppage time with centre Paul Baker scoring and Jo Canning converting.
They led 13-10 after two penalties from Canning, but, in the final minute, Ryan Richardsdon touched down in the corner to give the Yorkshire side the win.
Castleford won 7-6 at Tewkesbury, hooker Stuart Whybrow arriving by helicopter from his bachelor party in Amsterdam before flying back out.
His fellow revellers may have found him somewhat tired after he and the rest of the Castleford pack put up a Herculean defensive display to deny a Tewkesbury team that had 80 per cent of the possession.
Castleford overcame the atrocious conditions to take a
7-0 half-time lead after they made the most of a penalty award, which was kicked to within 10 metres of the line.
Paul Connell took clean ball at the line-out and the pack rolled it on with captain Chris Willett eventually getting the touch down. His brother Steve landed what proved to be a vital conversion from the touchline.
Tewkesbury piled on enormous pressure in the second half but Castleford continued to put their bodies on the line and restricted them to two penalties from Russell Nunn.
The home side drove 30 metres in the final play of the match only to concede a penalty which Castleford joyfully kicked dead and began to celebrate.
Doncaster Phoenix will meet them in the final after they pulled off an 18-13 home win against Chiswick.
Leading 13-3 at half-time, Phoenix just managed to hold on to their lead.
Centre Ben Miller kicked an early penalty for the Phoenix, but visiting fly-half Jon Small matched it. However, things looked good for the Doncaster side with Miller adding a second penalty, before going on to score and convert his own try on the half hour to give his side a 13-3 lead at the break.
Right winger Adam Burton scored a third try in the 48th minute as the Phoenix extended their lead, but Chiswick hit back to cause a few tense moments after winger Mike Stowell scored two tries in quick succession.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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