chesterfield play away in cup semi final

the panthers traveled to long Eaton in the cup semi final with a mixture of youth and experience hoping this would be enough to overcome the home team.
panthers started strong but due to resolute defending from the home team were frustrated until on the 8th min long eaton fumbled the ball on the half way line jake blair pounced on this showing the centre and full back a clean pair of heels to score under the posts ali taylor converting, at this stage the panthers took charge of the game there rush defence causing error after error form the home team the next try coming from again a forced knock on from the resulting scrum lee laughton picked up gaining several meters before off loading to crisp brailsford again lee linked with chris this forward powerplay sucking in much of le defence the ball then played out to the backs after several pairs of hands jake getting his second try in the corner. the last try of the first half again went to the panthers chris cooper clearing and chasing a kick from his own 5m line the le full back gathered this and managed to step coops unforunatly for him he didn't see chesterfields advancing wing ian watson who put in a crunching tackle the ball spilling straight into coops hands he set off for the corner pulling the cover defence with him just as the tackle was coming in with perfect timing coops got the inside pass away for a easy run in for ali taylor.
half time score long eaton 2nds 0 - 17 panthers 2nds

a couple of fresh legs were brought on at half time but it wasn't until the 57th min that u17 james marshall got his first senior try after good play from the backs he run a good support line as any back row player should to score in the corner ali taylor again converting. the game slowed up at this stage both teams making several errors the panthers coaches urged the players for a step up and so they did from a lineout on the left side the forwards sprang into life going through phase after phase again sucking in most of le defence when the ball came out to the backs the impressive coops hiting the line from fullback to score. the last try of the game coming from the impressive james marshall he worked an 8 - 9 move with fellow u17 nick foan james braking from the scrum showing blistering pace to leave the le back row for dead with still the wing and full back to beat he used nick as a decoy runner throwing the dummy wich the defence fell for allowing him to score under the posts again ali taylor converting.
final score long eaton 2nds 0 - 36 panthers 2nds.

again a great performance from a developing team a fair result on the day mentions must go again to the panthers pack who dominated at the scrum and in the loose creating a platform for the backs to rack up the points forwards man of the match lee laughton.
an electric performance from all the backs both in attack and defence to create the trys man of the match for the backs being ian watson in only his 2nd game for the 2nds this boy has got potential.
a big thankyou to long eaton who are a great club its always a pleasure to play them home or away.
thanks to the ref who kept the game flowing.
a massive thankyou to the large amount of traveling support it was like a 16th man at times.
but my biggest thanks goes to the lads who didnt make the 20 man squad we were allowed today.we are in the final due to everyone involved throughout the season not just the lads who played today