Crewe & Nantwich RUFC kept their Twickenham dreams alive with a fine 49-13 victory at Oadby in the Intermediate Cup.
Backed by a fine travelling support making the journey to Leicester, Andy Brown’s men proved too strong.
But it was the hosts who started the strongest, and strong drives from their pack helped set up the opening try after 12 minutes.
A conversion and two penalties saw Crewe & Nantwich 13-0 down. And with Crewe captain Niall MacGregor (pictured) yellow-carded, things looked bleak for the Vagrants side.
A knee injury to scrumhalf Aaron Barker prompted a new-look backline with Thom Vanstone, Tom Baldwin and Adam Chalklin.
And the combination quickly paid dividends, as the pack delivered good possession.
Baldwin slotted a drop goal before full-back Toby Ward fended off several defenders to power over for a try on the wing on 25 minutes.
Minutes later, no. 8 Kirk Robinson also powered through defenders to score a try converted by centre, Joe Gammage, to give the visitors a 16-13 edge at the break.
Crewe came out much sharper in the second half, and were rewarded with an early try thanks to a clean break by Gammage.
Eli Woodward scored the first of his two tries in succession as he smashed his way to the line twice in quick succession.
Crewe were totally dominant at this point as centre Reuben Davies scored on the left, and Ward added another as he received a pass in support about 10 metres from the line.
Kirk Robinson added another to his tally and the No 6 Matt Standley found himself out on the left wing to score in the left hand corner after a flowing handling movement from the backline.
The victory sees Crewe & Nantwich in the last eight of the Midlands region.
After the game, Oadby presented a rugby shirt for Kieran Flynn and their 1st XV match fees, topped up by their club to £160 for Kieran’s trust fund.
Coach Andy Brown said: “The rugby fraternity is a massive connection between all rugby players and supporters.
“Sometimes, there are moments in sport when you feel very humble and this was one of them. Our chairman eloquently thanked Oadby for their donation on Kieran’s behalf.”
Crewe & Nantwich return to league action next week when they welcome an unbeaten Leek side to the Vagrants in a top of the table clash.
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