Haresfinch 18 Eastmoor Dragons 32 FINCH bowed out of the National Cup at the hands of National Conference outfit Eastmoor Dragons but not without a great fight.

The final scoreline flattered the Yorkshire visitors, a fact acknowledged by their coach Peter Fox, the former Bradford Northern and Great Britain supremo.

A sloppy opening quarter ultimately proved costly for the home side as they surrendered possession from the kick-off, handing the initiative to Eastmoor. The Dragons took full advantage to build up a 14-0 lead with tries by Matt Rogers and Stan Smith - the latter allowed to to stand despite the ball seemingly being grounded short - plus four well-struck goals from the boot of sturdy stand-off Stuart Turton.

Finch gradually began to get their act together though and a good handling movement enabled winger Lee Jones to score wide out. Eastmoor replied with a try by Andy Hodkinson, converted by Turton, but the homesters refused to lie down and they made it 8-20 at the break when centre John Jackson swooped for a well-taken interception and raced 50 yards to score.

Finch made a much better start to the second period and they had the visitors clearly rattled when good support play resulted in a try for substitute Shaun Kilgannon, goalled by player/coach Billy Platt. At this stage Finch looked to be heading for a famous victory and they narrowed the deficit to just two points when good work by Jones and full-back Dave Swift paved the way for a try by second-row Paul Horsley.

The introduction of player/coach Paul Mallender, though, steadied the Eastmoor nerves and when he crashed over for a try, goalled by Turton, the Dragons had more or less ensured their place in the next round.

Finch made a last-ditch effort but when an ambitious passing movement broke down Eastmoor grabbed a last-minute try by Rogers, converted by Turton, to produce a final margin that did scant justice to the home side's gallant display.

Hard-working loose-forward Damian Clitheroe won the Haresfinch Aspects of Glass man-of-the-match award but he was pushed close by centre John Jackson, player/coach Billy Platt and stand-off Gary Hudson, with hooker Iain Kenyon, substitute Shaun Kilgannon and three-quarters Lee Jones, Andy Sterricker and John Hodkinson also putting in sterling efforts for the losers.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.