PLYMOUTH Argaum booked their place in the semi-finals of the Lockie Cup by edging out the Peninsula Medical School 22-17 in incredibly windy conditions at Bickleigh Down.
In the end, the Plymouth Combination cup match was decided by a late penalty try.
Argaum will now play Saltash for a place in the final, while the Medics are due to take on Old Techs in the RNEC Cup.
The gale-force wind blowing down the Bickleigh Down pitch really affected Saturday’s match.
Argaum had the conditions in their favour first half but did not really use it that well, although they did lead 10-5 at the break.
Jake Turfrey put the hosts ahead after just two minutes with a penalty.
It was almost impossible for the Medics to kick it into the wind but they took the lead with a breakaway try by Rafe Coleman on 18 minutes.
Argaum were dominating the scrum but were not really using the wind to get them in good positions.
However, in the final 10 minutes of the half they did camp in the Medics 22. They had two tries ruled out – one where the referee deemed Tom Holliday was held up under the posts and another for taking a quick tap penalty from the wrong place – before they did finally score. From a penalty they took a scrum and then went down the blindside and Darren Ewers was there to go over in the corner and give his side a 10-5 lead.
The Medics came out for the second half flying and levelled the match within three minutes of the restart. A good kick forward caused problems for Argaum and they attempted to kick from their own line but the ball did not go any distance and just fell perfectly for Joe Hunter to collect and score.
Argaum did respond with a try from close range in the 54th minute from Adam Walker, which made it 15-10.
But almost immediately the students came back again with number eight Tom Davies scoring a converted try after a pressure to edge his side 17-15.
The game could have gone either way but five minutes from time Argaum got into the Medics’ 22 and after hooker Tom Mann was illegally denied a try, the referee handed out a yellow card to the visitors and awarded the penalty try.
The Medics tried their best in the closing stages to try and snatch it but Argaum were able to hold on and progress.
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