We are hiring! Please click here to join our growing magazine delivery team in Gloucestershire!

4. Leaflets Distributed with TLA

Coney Hill to take on Camberley for place at Twickenham in RFU Intermediate Cup final

All Areas > Sport

Author: Roger Jackson, Posted: Monday, 19th March 2018, 11:40

Daniel Loftus goes over for one of this two tries against Windsor. Picture, Shaun Lafferty Daniel Loftus goes over for one of this two tries against Windsor. Picture, Shaun Lafferty

Coney Hill are just one game away from Twickenham after their impressive win at Windsor on Saturday.

The Western Counties North pace-setters scored six tries to win 34-19 and set up a home RFU Intermediate Cup semi-final against Camberley on Saturday 31st March.

Camberley, from Surrey, booked their place in the last four with a 33-12 win at Charlton Park.

Coney Hill warmed the hearts of their travelling supporters with three tires in each half in very cold and snowy conditions at Windsor.

Daniel Loftus got two and Andy Macrae one before the break and there were further tries in the second half for Lewis Dennelley, Dwayne Burrows and George Lott. Lott also slotted two conversions.

And while a place at Twickenham has moved another big step closer, skipper and hooker Tom Anderson is refusing to get carried away.

“I’m not getting too excited,” he said. “We’ve still got a job to do against Camberley.”

Anderson is right, of course, because Camberley will be no pushovers. They are enjoying a fine league season themselves and like Coney Hill, top their division, having won 17 out of 18 in London Two South West, earning a try bonus point in 16 of those 17 wins.

But the fact that Coney Hill have home advantage at the end of the month is obviously a good thing.

“Hopefully, yes,” said Anderson. “Having that noise of Coney Hill’s supporters should be a help.

“I went to Spartans’ semi-final last season. They beat a London side to reach Twickenham and they had a good few hundred there.

“They made a big day of it and the whole of Gloucester seemed to get behind them.”

And although the crowd will have a part to play on 31st March, it’s what happens on the pitch that really counts of course.

And if Coney Hill perform against Camberley like they did against Windsor, then they’ll have every chance of realising their dream of making it to English rugby’s HQ.

“It was a good performance, especially considering the conditions and the fact we were away from home,” added Anderson.

“Windsor were a young mobile team and we had to be patient and just grind them down.

“We were 29-0 up at one stage and then they got a couple of tries but we got the job done, that was the main thing.”

It certainly was and Coney Hill are still on course to achieve their four stated aims at the start of the season – to go through the season unbeaten at home, have a good run in the national cup, win a Combination Cup and win the league.

So if he had to choose, which would Anderson prefer, a place at Twickenham or the Western Counties North title?

“That’s a tough one,” he said, “I’ve not been asked that before. We’ve worked so hard all season to get where we are, contenders in both the league and the national cup.

“It’s every Englishman’s dream to play at Twickenham but winning in the league is very important to the club … let’s say both, I want to win both!”

The final of this year’s RFU Intermediate Cup takes place on Sunday 6th May at Twickenham.

Other Images

Coney Hill’s Ciaran Leeson in control. Picture, Shaun Lafferty
Tom Ball in the thick of the action at Windsor. Picture, Shaun Lafferty
George Lott scored a try and landed two conversions in conditions that were at times very snowy. Picture, Shaun Lafferty

Copyright © 2024 The Local Answer Limited.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to The Local Answer Limited and thelocalanswer.co.uk with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

More articles you may be interested in...

The Local Answer. Advertise to more people in Gloucestershire
The Local Answer. More magazines through Gloucestershire doors

© 2024 The Local Answer Limited - Registered in England and Wales - Company No. 06929408
Unit H, Churchill Industrial Estate, Churchill Road, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, GL53 7EG - VAT Registration No. 975613000

Privacy Policy