KING Edward School in Lytham could soon be winging their way to Twickenham after the under 15s made it to the semi-finals of the Daily Mail cup.
The team, now unbeaten in 19 matches this season, put in a spirited game at Royal Grammar School, Worcester in the quarter-final, and after battling decisively came through with a 15-11 victory, leaving only one match between them and the Twickenham final.
Tries from winger Aron Marker and full-back Jon Fenech gave Lytham a 12-6 lead at half-time, but things were not so simple in the second half. Worcester cut the deficit to a single point with a well-worked try, but outside half Richard Whiteside dropped a fine goal to put Lytham ahead 15-11. Team Captain Harry Gregory said that despite a sustained attack from Worcester, his team held up a resilient defence in a tense last period.
Team Coach Steve Williams agreed when he said: "Our tackling was magnificent and Worcester Royal Grammar School commented afterwards that they had never come across such a tremendous defensive effort.
"Had RGS kicked their penalties, rather than go for tries, it might have been a different story.
"We were happy with our first half display and were the better side during that period, but we really struggled in the second half and had to defend for our lives.
"In the end we just about deserved it. We've had to work for every win. There have been no easy ones, but we're still there."
While Worcester collected their try in the games' final moment, Richard Whiteside produced another successful strike to give King Edward the last word, and the match ended 15-11.
The semi-final against Wellington College, Berkshire looms on the horizon and will be played at Castlecroft in Wolverhampton, the Rugby union centre of Excellence for Schools, on March 11. If they get through this they will emulate the King Edward's side of 1990 by reaching the Twickenham final.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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