Newbury travel to Teignmouth for Papa Johns Cup semi showdown

NEWBURY Blues are ‘buzzing’ at the prospect of finishing the season with a cup final appearance.

Blues booked their place in the semi-final of the Papa Johns Cup, South Shield with a hard-fought 22-15 win over Salisbury.

Blues now travel to Teignmouth for the semi showdown on May 4, with the winners taking on either Sidcup or Gravesend in the final at Dings Crusader, Bristol, on May 12.

Blues head coach James McAvoy has seen his side win three matches in a row.

And he said: “We are all excited for the semi-final – the boys are buzzing.

“Everyone is buying into the cup. The way we finished the league season, we wanted more games because we have hit our stride in the last few weeks.”

McAvoy was full of praise for skipper Dan Thorne, who again showed nerves of steel to kick five penalties and a conversion.

And Ben Hicks celebrated his 250th appearance for Blues with another impressive display.

McAvoy said: “It’s a great achievement, especially for a loose head – it is testament to the way that Ben looks after himself because he really does put in a shift every week.

“Dan’s kicking was exceptional and he deserves all the plaudits, while Dylan Stewart was also outstanding.”

Blues finished 18 points ahead of Salisbury in Regional 2 South Central, but were made to fight all the way.

McAvoy said: We started so well that after 10 minutes we thought we would be pretty secure, but after that it was very scrappy with lots of stoppages.

“We wanted to play an up-tempo game, but it was stop-start all game.”

Now McAvoy will be turning his attention to Teignmouth, who finished eighth in Regional 2 Tribute South West with nine wins from their 22 games.

He said: “We will be having a look through some of their videos, but we know it’s going to be a physical game.”