Oldham St Annes 10 Thatto Heath Crusaders 19

HAVING already disposed of Woolston and Saddleworth in earlier rounds, Heath completed a hat-trick of victories over National Conference Premier Division sides to book their place in the semi-final of the National Cup.

Despite the swirling wind, scrum-half Barry Ashall managed to pop over two early drop goals to help settle the visitors' nerves.

However, it was St Annes who got the first try of the game on 17 minutes when their lively number seven Steve Crowther scooted through to score next to the posts with stand-off Richard Badby adding the conversion.

Heath full-back Wayne Jackman and Badby then traded penalties to make it 8-4 to to the homesters before the visitors regained the lead on 33 minutes when hooker Darren Mitchell went in for a typical close-range try. Jackman converted and two minutes from the break added a superb penalty from just inside the St Annes' half to enable Crusaders to go in at the interval four points to the good at 12-8.

The Oldham side came out for the second half determined to re-establish control of a game that was starting to run away from them. And they spent long periods of the third quarter camped out on the Heath line. However, a combination of dogged determination and great team spirit kept them at bay and with only another Badby penalty to show for all their efforts, frustration started to creep into the St Annes' ranks.

Strong and intelligent running by Mitchell and Dave Lloyd, along with some accurate kicking by Ashall, started to put the home side on the back foot and Darren Harris extended Heath's lead with a close-range drop goal.

However, entering the final stages the tie was still in the balance with Crusaders leading 13-10. Then with just three minutes left on the clock Ashall went for another drop goal only to see it charged down by a desperate Oldham defence. And as the ball spun into the in-goal area it was Ashall who reacted the quickest to pounce for a try behind the posts which Jackman duly converted to complete a memorable victory.

The Marple men-of-the-match awards for Heath went to Darren Mitchell and Barry Ashall but essentially this was a great team effort with every man playing his part.

Crusaders u/16s 6 Stanley Rangers 23

Crusaders just failed in their attempt to add the National Cup to their Lancashire Cup triumph.

On a heavy pitch at Mount Pleasant, Batley, the local youngsters looked the stronger side for long periods but couldn't turn this into points.

Winger Lee Anders scored the Crusaders' try from a long cross-field kick by stand-off Carl Forber who contributed their other points with a penalty goal.

The Mortgage Advice Centre man-of-the-match was Kev Brown just ahead of Forber and Mike Saunders.