Following the league defeat against the 2nd team, Northants 2nd team returned to the warm courts of Cripps to face the 3rd team in the Knockout Semi-Final.

Andy Fraser opened up the tie against Angus Molyneux at 5. In a challenging game for the marker, Andy took the first, only for Angus to level in game 2. The most contentious point was at game point in game three with Molyneux asking for a let for contact, however Andy had already found the nick and the request was refused with the Cripps player having no chance of retrieving. Andy seized the initiative to close out a 3-1 win.

Ian Shirley contested a physical game with Dave Featherstone at 4. Ian's consistency and better shotmaking made for a straight games victory 15/13  15/11  17/15.

Tim Arthur went on court at 3 to clinch the game, however looking lethargic, he was soon down, losing the first game to Cliff Armstrong. A close second game saw the Cripps player level at 14 all. Tim decided to call set 1 with American scoring in the cup. Cliff found a nick from the back of the court, however Tim managed to get the ball up to level at one game all.

Meanwhile Pete "The Viking" Rhodes went on at 2 to consolidate the result against Cripps captain Paul Grayson - he also went down in the first game, not seeming to find his usual length and width, but rallied strongly to win the next three and clinch the win for Harborough at set 3 in the fourth.

Back on the other court, an offer to cover Tim's match fee by one of the Harborough comittee if he won 3-1, seemed to spark him into life ! The younger and fitter Harborough man closed out the rubber despite valiant retrieval from Cliff.

With the match won, Nick Crossley went on court in a dead rubber to play Sean Doyle at 1 - in a game that provided good entertainment for the spectators, Doyle took the first 17/16. The Cripps player was playing a fine range of shots with high quality volley boasts proving difficult to return for Nick, however Nick fought back to take the third 17/15. But Nick couldn't step up to make an "Earl Harrison" stylee comeback and went down 10/15 in the fourth.

A good solid perfomance by the team to take a 4-1 win and sees us into the final against Kettering Rugby on April 13th.

Back to the league next week with maximum points the target against Daventry 4 at Fairfield Road to consolidate our 11 points lead at the top of division 3.