Jon Fell (right) in action for QEGS against Hymers College.

PENRITH Queen Elizabeth Grammar School first XV have reached the last eight of the national Daily Mail Vase under-18 competition following a hard-fought and well deserved victory away to Hymers College, Hull.

They have been drawn away again in the semi-finals and will travel to Kings School, Tynemouth, on Wednesday.

The Penrith side have been on the road for their last three successes, but have come through to record wins over teams with a strong rugby pedigree. They defeated King Edward VII and Queen Mary’s, Lytham, 36-11 at home, before recording an eye-catching 16-8 win away Bradford Grammar School, followed by victory away to another of Yorkshire’s finest, Hymers College.

“A lot of credit for the quality of the side goes to the coaches at the Penrith club,” said Alastair Worth, who jointly coaches the school side with Steve Jones.

“All the lads play at one level or another at Penrith RUFC. Two of our backs, our captain and full back Phil Fell and his twin brother Jonathan, the outside centre, have both played for the first team.

“We also have a few lads who have played for Cumbria Schools, such as Joe Ellis, our No. 8, and front row duo Michael Clarke and Dan Coleman. But the secret of our success is not outstanding individuals, but the fact that we have no weaknesses and play as a team.

“We’re expecting another tough game at King’s School and hopefully the last two Vase games will stand us in good stead. It was good experience for the lads to go to Bradford and Hymers and see the calibre of their set-ups. The fact that we came away with wins after being involved in a couple of very tight, difficult games is good experience and should help us on Wednesday.”

The QEGS coaches appreciate greatly the work put in by the whole squad and the support given by parents.

HYMERS COLLEGE 0, PQEGS 12

The Penrith team settled well from the start in very blustery conditions, putting several quality phases of play together and forcing an early indiscretion by the hosts. James Ellar converted confidently from outside the 22.

This galvanised a more spirited response from Hymers, but the defensive efforts made against Bradford Grammar School in the previous round prepared QEGS well for a tense and evenly fought battle for supremacy. Throughout this time, despite being pinned in their half for significant periods, the QEGS backs looked composed with the ball and only a well-scrambled defence kept them out. Credit must go to all the forwards who scrummaged strongly, spoiled well at the lineout, and dominated the tackle area.

Confidence was high for the second half, as QEGS turned round with the elements in their favour and a small points advantage.

However, Hymers upped the ante, appreciating that they needed to run the ball to score, and forced the QEGS defence to be at its best. The centre pairing of Aaron Sutton and Jon Fell featured heavily, with the hard-working back row of Joe Ellis, Matt Sutton and Ciaran McNeill creating turnover ball, while both sets of backs traded some probing runs.

The tension was finally broken when Ellar kicked a convincing drop goal. In their haste to redress the deficit, Hymers committed several infringements at the tackle area, allowing Ellar to wrap up the game with two well-struck penalties.

QEGS squad: Philip Fell, Joseph Bancroft, Jonathan Fell, Aaron Sutton, William Addison, James Ellar, Matthew Williamson, Daniel Coleman, Sam Putnam, Michael Clarke, Jonty Ward, Philip Gardham, Matthew Sutton, Scott Davidson, Joe Ellis, Mark Armstrong, Luke Braidwood, Hugo Adddison, Ciaran McNeil, Ross Gardener, Jonathon Pritchard.