PAPA JOHNS COMMUNITY CUP COUNTIES TWO CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
SALTASH’S hopes of returning to Twickenham were narrowly ended at the final hurdle by Counties Two Surrey champions Old Rutlishians at Moorlands Lane on Saturday.
Old Ruts edged out the Ashes 37-31 in a thrilling Papa Johns Community Cup semi-final that went right down to the wire.
It was more heartbreak for Saltash, who had once again had to settle for runners-up in the league and also finished as runners-up in the Lockie Cup.
However, they do still have the chance of some glory as they will now play in next Saturday’s Cornwall Clubs’ Cup final against Perranporth.
The Papa Johns Cup has certainly provided Saltash, RFU Senior Vase finalists in 2018, with some great competitive games, which have been in short supply in their league.
They beat both the Gloucestershire North champions Gordon League and runners-up Old Patesians on their way to the semi-final and they had their chances to overcome Old Ruts in a close game on Saturday, but the London side’s speed and impressive handling just edged it on the day.
In front of a large crowd, the visitors, who had scored more than 70 points in two of their three earlier round matches, went 12-0 ahead within seven minutes following a fast move and a touch-down on the left wing and a conversion, which was swiftly improved upon with a right wing try.
But Saltash came back and exerted pressure on the visitors which resulted in a yellow card being shown to an Old Ruts player.
A try by Lewis Stuart, which he converted after 27 minutes, reduced the gap to 12-7.
Saltash missed a penalty, but then Stuart scored a second converted try to give his side a 14-12 lead at half-time.
A converted touch-down under the posts straight from the restart put the visitors back in front and within two minutes their strong-fast running increased their advantage to 24-14.
The game continued at a high tempo and the Ashes forwards enabled Liall Honey to cross the Old Boys’ line for a try converted by Stuart, who then kicked an equalising penalty.
An immediate reply came from Old Ruts, who scored two more tries to restore their 10-point lead.
But this only spurred on the Ashes and Ryan Simmons completed a period of frantic home attacks with a try again converted by man-of-the-match Stuart to make it 34-31.
A penalty after 68 minutes ended the scoring but not the drama as Saltash battled hard to get the winning points in a pulsating semi-final that went down to the last play.