Wisbech put St Ives to sword in county cup semi-final

Wisbech stormed into the County Junior Cup Final with a commanding 83-7 win over St Ives 2nds.

Director of rugby Leonard Veenendaal said: "Being unfamiliar with St Ives, we were unsure of what to expect.

“We spoke about focusing on ensuring we play our game and stick to our structure and process for the full 80 minutes.

“I am delighted with their performance in doing just that; the bucket load of tries was the reward for playing for each other as a team.

“This was a suburb squad effort epitomised by our Bowsers man of the match performance from centre Lewis Haddon whose work rate made it appear there were two of him on the pitch.

“With several players putting their hands up over the last four matches presents a selection headache ahead of the final in two weeks, but it is a nice problem to have.

“As a squad, we need to remain grounded and focused and put in the work over the next two weeks to ensure we bring the cup back to Wisbech.”

The hosts settled down quickly, with Freddy Foreman opening the scoring after sustained pressure, dotting down for a 5–0 lead.

A brilliant break from Tomasi Andrea off a scrum turnover set up Ethan Garford, who offloaded smartly to Solomon Prestidge, crashing over under the posts. Jack Malkin added the extras to make it 12-0.

St Ives were handed a lifeline when a knock-on fell into their number 8’s hands and a penalty try was awarded, with Foreman shown a yellow card in the process, narrowing the score to 12-7.

Then came a wave of Wisbech power and dominance. Olly Murdoch finished a slick hands move in the corner (17–7), followed by a powerful solo effort from Andrea, which sealed a try bonus-point ahead of half time (24-7).

Ethan Garford then crashed over, extending the Men in Red’s lead to 31-7.

The tries continued to flow as Hal Whyatt scored after a line break from Prestidge, before Murdoch showcased his pace again to notch another (45–7).

Garford claimed his second from the back of a ruck to give Wisbech a large 50-7 margin over the away side as they went into the half-time break.

The second half saw supremacy from the home side as they continued to build their lead.

A dazzling team effort saw No8 Tomasi Andrea link with right wing Hal Whyatt, then back to Andrea, who neatly offloaded to Zac Lakey in support for a crowd-pleasing try under the sticks, leaving the score at 57-7.

Murdoch added his hat-trick try shortly after, reacting quickly off a deflection and finishing under the posts, 64-7 to the home side.

James Napier broke through next, setting up Prestidge for his second (71-7), before Hal Whyatt added his brace (78-7).

Wisbech would score again when Andrea rounded off a strong attacking move for the home side to score his second to seal the emphatic 83-7 victory at the full-time whistle.

The first team will play the winners of the other semi-final between Match and Royston, which is being contested on Easter Saturday.

The final will be played on neutral ground at Cantabs Rugby Club in Cambridge on April 26.

Wisbech Vets host Deepings at Harecroft Road on Saturday.