LANCASHIRE CUP

Semi-final SEDGLEY PARK 20 ALDWINIANS 12

A COUPLE of smart substitutions helped Sedgley clinch a place in the final of the Lancashire Cup at Park Lane on Sunday, writes DAVE MORTON.

Park sent on South African forward Tim Fourie and Liam McLoughlin and went on to seal their final appearance in the second half.

Sedgley were playing up the slope in the first half, but took an early lead through a Pete Roberts penalty after Richard Whitehouse had taken a scrum against the head.

Moments later full back Roberts was required to bring off a try-saving tackle as the visitors attacked strongly.

Sedgley had to endure a long period of defence as Aldwinians big pack hammered away at their line. Possession was a problem for the home team, quality ball from the scrum being hard to come by.

Behind the scrum the visitors were less impressive and Sedgley escaped when a clear two-man overlap was wasted through a poor pass.

The game settled into a pattern -- Sedgley's scrum under extreme pressure, Aldwinians trying to take route one to the line and being met with brave defence. Attacking kicks were dealt with well by Sedgley's back three.

With only scraps of possession to play with, Sedgley relied on the kicking skills of scrum half Rob Smith, with big lock Paul Arnold contributing the occasional storming run.

A quickly taken tap penalty by Smith led to another easy penalty for Roberts and Sedgley led 6-0 after half an hour.

Aldwinians finally gained some reward for their efforts with two tries in the last five minutes of the first half.

The first came from substitute centre Docherty and was converted by Woodward to give his side the lead. A lovely piece of skill from stand off Mike Jackson then put flanker brother Chris Jackson over on the left, though the easy conversion was missed and Sedgley trailed 12-6 at the interval.

In the second half Sedgley's pack was strengthened by the introduction of Liam McLoughlin and number 8 Tim Fourie and they immediately made a difference with strong runs.

Gradually, Sedgley began to get on top. Pete Roberts missed with two long-range penalty attempts until after 24 minutes the home side had a real stroke of luck. A much easier penalty kick for Roberts this time, but he was having an uncharacteristic off day with his goalkicking and the ball struck a post for wing Dave Mugan to follow up and score. Roberts converted.

Ten minutes later Sedgley had the game sewn up as Fourie, attacking the narrow side of a ruck, sold a great dummy and sliced through to score.

Once again Roberts added the two points, giving his team that all-important eight-point margin and a late Aldwinians attack attack was survived without too many alarms.

SEDGLEY PARK: Roberts, Mugan, Richardson (Oldham), Bullough, Bentham, Peacock, Smith, Young (McLoughlin), Whitehouse, Roberts, Arnold, Williamson (Stockdale), Bury (Fourie), Hartley, Taylor.

Tomorrow Doncaster visit Park Lane for what may be the final league match of the season, the game against Tynedale being unlikely to be played because of the foot and mouth epidemic.

To keep their promotion hopes alive, Sedgley must beat Doncaster, who beat them 18-13 on December 9 -- Sedgley's last defeat in any competition.