Uxbridge 0 Ruislip II 24

A STRONG first quarter paved the way for Ruislip II to claim their place in the last four of the North West Middlesex Cup at the expense of neighbours Uxbridge.

The Maroons took an early 10-0 lead with tries from Bradley Lyddon and Sam Perez and they went on to dominate the first half, playing with good tempo and pace around the field.

TJ Okeshola scored a quality try converted by young fly half Stuart Pearham to put them well in control before they eased off after the interval.

Uxbridge competed hard at the breakdown in the second half and disrupted the Ruislip line-out with the result that the second period was more even, with Ruislip adding only one further try through substitute winger Tish Edwards.

Coach Ron Matthews said: "I was frustrated that we didn't maintain our shape after the first 20 - we stated to play individually rather than as a team with our kicking game a mixed bag and our forwards not working hard enough to get to the breakdown." [25a0] The Threes enjoyed a good 22-16 win over Harrow II while the Vets romped to a 42-12 success against Readingensians Vets.

The Vets started slowly, conceding an early try, but Nobby Adnett, Buba Abu and Phil Skelton took Ruislip 19-7 in front by the break.

Barry Henshaw, Steve Hancock and Abu also grabbed tries with Mick Skin-ner adding several conversions to complete the tally.

They host Maidenhead at 3pm on Saturday.

The first team travels to struggling Westcliff on Saturday for a London Two South fixture. 

Ruislip U14s had a day to remember as they won promotion to Herts/Middx League Division Two and topped 1,000 points for the season in the process, not to mention extending their run of unbeaten games to 19.

Finchley came to West End Road but Ruislip very much lived up to their favourites tag as they took charge from the first whistle.

Prop Sam Lewis made the first run deep into Finchley territory and the ball was quickly recycled and sent down the line for inside centre Joe Thwaite to jink through and open the scoring.

The visitors countered but strong tackling from winger Elliot Byfield snuffed out the attack and the Ruislip forwards quickly countered.

Robert Baragwanath was the next to break through, followed by Elliot Byfield and Olly Hooper to secure the bonus point. Rhys Verley ran in the fifth try, shaking off defenders with Charlie Noon slotting the conversion to take Ruislip 27-0 up at the break.

Man of the match Ben Edwards led the second half attack and was rewarded with a try under the posts converted by Jack Knights before Ian Rowe was next to touch down with his try, taking the side past the 1,000 point mark before adding the conversion.

Edwards scored again in the corner after more powerful running but the best try came from a move in midfield as the ball was passed between numerous hands to leave Matt Coker to burst through and score.

Rowe converted again.

Despite the rapidly rising score Finchley stuck to their task and it was Ruislip that lost their composure, ending the game with two men in the sin bin after Baragwanath was yellow carded for inappropriate use of the boot and Joe Thwaite followed for deliberate obstruction, but Ruislip defended well to close out a 53-0 win.